Camping trip
by Nayame
Summary: Bellas friends ask her if she's in for a camping trip. Alice, Emmet and Edward are coming, too - let the fun begin! With this constellation, no one knows what will happen next... Contains major fluff and the characters aren't too ooc
1. Chapter one Morning

Welcome to my first fanfic. I hope, you are going to enjoy what I consider a "happy, fluffy" story. The chapters will gradually get longer after the first two chapters.

Currently, I'm revising the first chapters. I found several major grammar mistakes... Sorry for those. The story line didn't change, though.

Please tell me what you think! All kinds of comments are welcome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters.

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Morning**

_Tweet, tweet, tweet._

Gnaaaa. Go away, let me sleep…

_Tweet, tweet, tweet._

Who invented those stupid alarm clocks? Just five minutes more, please…

_Tweet, tweet, twe-_

That's it. My hand reached out to where my clock sat and threw it right across my room into the next wall.

_eet, eet._

Silence.

_Yay_, it is seven in the morning and though I'm more than only half asleep I accomplished to kill the clock. Definitely the best thing to do after waking up from a nice dream. My eyes still closed, I turned around in my bed and thought about what I saw during my sleep.

I had dreamed about the meadow. Sometimes, I got the impression that there was nothing else to dream about. It had been a warm, sunny day and I could still almost taste the humid air on my tongue. I had been alone, though. I remembered turning around several times, searching for someone – Edward, of course. I had to giggle a little. This dream was so cliché and typical of me… Eventually, I had turned in the right direction and there he had been: My Edward, in all his sparkly glory… I let out a deep, content sight. I'd probably never forget the first time, I laid eyes on him…

Edward.

Wait a moment. My brows furrowed in concentration.

Edward?  
Alarm Clock?  
What the…!  
I sat up in a flash, my eyes shot open.

_Ew_. Wrong idea, much too bright.

I had to blink several times in a row to adjust to the brightness in the room.

That was what I thought was wrong this morning. I can't remember when I heard the alarm of my clock the last time! Normally, Edward would be there to–

"Good morning, sleepy head." A velvety voice reached my ear. Wait a moment, did I hear him snicker?

I looked across the room and sure enough, they fell on my beloved one sitting in the rocking chair right next to the remains of my clock. An amused – and slightly smug – grin played on his lips.

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.

What was he doing here? I mean, not that I'm not happy about that, but why did I have to wake up to my clock and not to his (very cute) attempts to wake me up?

I closed my mouth again without having said anything and tried to glare at him – which didn't seem to work, he tried to hide his laugher.

Well, he failed.

I finally found my voice. "Morning." I said without much enthusiasm.

"Sorry about your clock, I just wanted to see if you are able to get up faster by that nasty sound or by my voice." He looked down to the remains of my red clock.

"And?" He would pay for that experiment. He had to.

He looked at me and our eyes locked. He smiled my favorite smile and said: "Well, I guess, I can't really say what won. That poor clock didn't live long enough to tell me. Don't worry, I'll get you another one after school." Much quieter he added while gazing down once more "An unbreakable one would be best, I think."

"Hey, I heard that!" Meanwhile, I shuffled with the blankets to get up and ready for the bathroom. "And besides: If you are getting me another one of those nasty things, you won't get any kiss from me for at least a week!" I didn't think that I would be able to do so, but at least, I would have to try.

I looked into his eyes and saw a cute kind of shock play on his face. But that was only for a very short time because the next things I felt were his stone like, cold arms around my waist. I was a bit startled at first but looked up into his eyes.

Wrong decision.

They were once again like pools of gold and I was practically drowning in them.

He knew that and his smile told me that he saw an easy victory ahead.

"Bella, I don't think you would be able to do that to me, believe me."

"Hmmmm…" Was all I could get out. Thanks mister vampire to dazzle me once again. "Not… fair." I mumbled.

He flashed some his teeth in a grin while I was still locked in his gaze and let his breath fan out over my face. "I know." was all he said.

I snuggled myself closer to him. Ok, he won and he knew it. Just one more victory on his side.

"I think you need to go to the bathroom, if you don't want to go to school in your pajama, my love."

Ewww, school. Did he have to remind me? It was Wednesday, still too many days until the weekend. In addition, I had to work today at Newton's, so I had even less time to be with Edward. I let a sigh escape my lips. "What time is it?" I asked as I looked one more time in his eyes.

"It is… seven thirty by now, so you still have some time before we will have to drive to school, but I have to go and get my car. Besides, Alice called me last night while you were sleeping and saw something she wanted to tell me."

Saw? A vision? Hm… Edward wasn't looking as if something bad would happen, well, in fact, he wasn't even looking as if something _good_ was going to happen, either. I think, he was just as clueless as I was in this case.

"Ok. When will you be here to pick me up?"

"Same time as every day, I think."

With this, he put his cold lips to my warm ones. That kiss took some time but he eventually he had to break it because I wasn't breathing. Again. That happened a lot lately.

Edward smirked and kissed my forehead once more. "Now, get ready. See you later, my love."

With that, he disappeared into thin air. Like every morning. I had to smile while I tried to fall into my normal pattern of breathing and took my things with me to the bathroom. Something told me, this day would be a bit different than the last ones and that '_something_' wasn't my shattered alarm clock on the floor of my bedroom.

Which reminded me: I still had to figure out how to pay him back…


	2. Chapter two School

AN: So, chapter two. The original version held an awful lot of grammar mistakes, they should be gone by now (at least, most of them)

Please tell me, what you think about this chapter :)!

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight and sadly, not the characters, either.

* * *

**Chapter 2 – School**

I got into the bathroom and locked the door. That was just out of habit – Charlie was already at his office and Edward… Well… Let's say, a locked door is a problem to a human and not to a vampire. I felt the warmth coming all the way from my neck to my face. Did I really just think that Edward would tear the door down while I'm in here? I think I'm lucky he wasn't sitting in my room in this moment; he would've asked me later why my heartbeat quickened so much…

I got undressed and started the water in the shower. Here, at Charlie's, the water took quite some time to get as warm as I liked it to be. Eventually, it reached the temperature and I stepped in.

The water felt great on my body. It relaxed my muscles and freed my head from the foggy haze that still lingered there from his kiss.

It has been two months since that stupid _event_ with Jake, since he'd brought my motorcycle in front of this house. Dad hadn't been happy. Ok, that was an understatement. I have never experienced him so very angry before. I hadn't been allowed to go out, let alone see Edward. I didn't know how he'd been able to, but he had even driven me to school and fetched me up after. He had taken the keys to my truck, so I couldn't get anywhere without him. That had meant the mall, too. Charlie had even gone grocery shopping. Well, I had to write a list for him, so he could get all the things I'd needed to make him a meal, but anyway.

But the worst thing had been that I'd only been allowed to speak to Edward through phone and only for an hour a day – which had to happen when Charlie was home and sitting right next to me.

When Charlie had told me all of these rules three months ago, I hadn't been able to think straight. I'd never been so furious and I really hope I will never be again. Edward had been right at my side when I came into my room after Charlie had had his speech. He couldn't be with me during the whole thing because Charlie had been way too angry with me and just threw Edward out. Well, not literally, but Edward had told me that the thoughts running through Charlie's head hadn't been the best ones and he had to leave.

Edward has been in my room every night when Charlie had gone to bed and held me in his arms. It has been easier to live through that kind of grounding with him by my side, even when it had been only for a few hours a day.

My grounding had been lifted about two weeks ago. Charlie and I were on better terms since then and Edward told me that my dad felt awful that he'd really grounded me. Well, maybe that was just because I hadn't talked to him for a whole month. That had been pretty hard but manageable.

_OW!_

The water turned to ice, _great_. Just now, the hot water had to run out and I couldn't scrub the shampoo out of my hair. Wait, the water keeps its temperature for at least half an hour!

No, I'm going to be late!

I finished my things in the bathroom in a hurry and my hair was still slightly wet when I ran down the stairs to get a granola bar for breakfast. As soon as I got to my jacked next to the front door, I could see the shiny Volvo standing in the driveway.

Edward was standing right in front of it, leaning on the driver's door, grinning in my direction.

I fetched my books, ran out of the door, locked it and right when I wanted to spin around and get to the car, I tripped over my own feet. Oh, no, I managed the whole morning without that, why now?

Edward was at my side in a flash and caught me.

"Bella, I can understand that you want to hurry up since school starts in about five minutes, but I really think that tripping would not get you there much faster." I could feel his smile on my forehead as he kissed me. Of course I blushed. "I love it when you do that." His voice wasn't much more like a whisper in my ear.

I didn't really know what happened next but the next thing I remembered was that we were driving in his Volvo. I knew for sure I hadn't passed out this time so it was just his vampire speed, I guessed. I'll never get used to that.

.

About four minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot at the school. We stepped out of the car and walked hand in hand towards the buildings. That was when I remembered something from earlier.

"Edward?"

"Hm?" He smiled down on me.

"Did you talk to Alice?"

I was pretty sure he thought about the talk they had because he was smirking. "Yes, I did."

I waited, but he didn't say anything else.

"And…?" I asked a bit impatient.

"And I think you should get into your classroom. The bell already rang and the teacher is on his way."

Oh. I didn't hear the bell. Well, in fact, I didn't pay any attention to any of my surroundings and just now, we were standing in front of my classroom.

"Oh, please, _please_, tell me. Pleaaase." I really wanted to know, especially since I saw that he was kind of… amused about what Alice had told him. And 'amused Alice' is an Alice who likes to torture me with things like shopping, I'd already learned that. I tried to make a cute face - maybe this time I could dazzle him?

He lifted one finger under my chin, looked deep into my eyes and smiled a smile that could let hearts melt.

"Bella my love, if you look at me with your big brown eyes like a cute little deer, I'm getting hungry." With that, he sent me a smile and flashed his teeth so that I got an ice cold chill running down my spine and made my knees melt into pudding. Luckily, I was leaning on a wall. My cheeks were on fire and I looked down to my shoes.

There _has to be_ a time when I will be able to dazzle him, there _really_ has to.

His finger still right under my chin, he tilted my head up so that our eyes met once again. "Have a nice class, Bella. I love you."

"You too. I love you, Edward."

Knowing my legs were still nothing more than pudding, he brushed his lips carefully against mine, gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and went to his own class.

"Miss Swan, are you going to go into the classroom now or do you want to stay here?" Oh, I hadn't heard the teacher approach. But _maybe_ that was because I heard nothing more than my own pulse in my ears? Anyway. Edward was gone and I knew I had to wait until lunch to get an answer.

.

Time goes by slowly while waiting for something. I wasn't really paying attention to my classes but someone sitting right next to me during all of the classes to lunch grinned like a maniac the whole time. Jessica. I wonder why…?

"Hey Jess, everything ok with you?", I asked.

"Oh, Bella. Eh… Yes, everything's just fine. Why do you ask?"

She didn't even try to hide her grin. Her eyes twinkled like they had stars in them. I had never seen Jessica so very excited before.

"Well, you grin like a maniac, that's why I ask."

"Oh, that - that's nothing. You'll get to now later but I may not tell you, sorry."

Ok, I was officially getting nervous. Edward smirked because he knew something I didn't know, Alice saw it in a vision and now even Jessica started to act strange. She may act strange a lot but not _this_ kind of strange. I was getting a bit scared.

.

Finally, the bell rang and our lunch break started. As I walked out of the classroom, Edward was already there, waiting for me. He leaned on the wall and smiled as I walked towards him. "Till later!" Jessica whispered in my direction and then she went off.

"Hey." Edward took me into an embrace for some seconds than released me as he heard my heart stutter.

"Hey." I smiled and let my hand stroke the side of his head.

"Want to go to the cafeteria? As far as I can remember, you haven't had much breakfast today. Which leads me to my next question: What took so long in the bathroom?"

I felt as red as a tomato right then.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He chuckled. "I wasn't thinking right now. Let me rephrase it. Did anything happen while I was gone?" He let his chuckle fade and smiled into my eyes.

"Ehm… No, nothing. I just… kind of zoned out while standing in the shower, that's all." I knew I should not have told him that and his next action showed me why.

He cupped my face in his strong hands and I swear, those two pools of golden liquid were swirling. I knew _exactly_ what he would ask now.

"Really? What were you thinking about so hard?"

Ok. Tease him or not tease him? He deserves it, I knew, and I didn't have much more time to think. His eyes wanted to take their toll.

I hoped, I wasn't going to regret this.

I smirked. "You naked." There. Take this, you nosy, teasy vampire.

He stared into my eyes as if he didn't realize what I just said.

He took in a deep breath and blinked several times. "Bella…" he said between clenched teeth.

I could not take it anymore and let out a small snicker which became a laugh. "Sorry Edward, but you were teasing me the whole morning; I just had to pay you back." He glared at me and let out a low but playful growl. His mouth twitched a bit into a smile and I let the laughing fade away. "Guess I deserved it. I _promise_ I will never let you have to wake up to an alarm clock when you could get _me_ instead. But please, tell me what you really thought about."

"Nothing special. I was just thinking about how happy I am that my stupid grounding is lifted." I knew he wasn't angry with me about my blunt answer by then. I also knew that he was just surprised by the answer itself, that I really could manage a lie – however pathetic - while he tried to dazzle me. Edward knew through my embarrassing sleep talk well enough that I was thinking how he would look like while only wearing boxers.

"Why are you getting red again, Bella?" I heard his velvety voice right at my ear. We were standing in the food line for lunch.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"_Right_… Sometimes you really are a tease, my love." I heard the chuckle in his voice.

"So are you."

We paid for our lunch and headed to the table where Alice was already sitting. Emmet was with her, what surprised me a bit. He wasn't going to Fork's High anymore; he, Jasper and Rosalie already graduated. So… Why was he here?

"Hey Emmet, hey Alice!" I greeted both of them. Emmet had a huge grin plastered on his face. I guess he knew what Alice had seen in her vision, just like Edward. Alice was smiling in my direction, motioning me to sit down right next to her.

"Hi Bella!" Emmett's eyes were sparkling. I had to admit, when I was frightened after talking to Jess, I didn't know what I was right now. Panicked?

"Ok, get it over with. Please tell me what's going on, even Jess is acting… strange."

Alice and Edward let out a low chuckle while Emmett had a hard time to stifle his laughter.

I tried to glare at them but just like always, it didn't help.

Instead, I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Bella?"

I looked behind me and saw Mike standing there, a timid smile on his face. He was definitive not comfortable standing in front of three vampires, even if he didn't know about that fact.

"Hi, Mike, what is it?" I could feel Edwards hand on my shoulder and even though I didn't look in his face I was sure that he wasn't happy that Mike wanted to start a conversation with me.

What surprised me though was that he wasn't the least bit growling. He had done that a lot lately when Mike was around. Something about his thoughts, I guessed.

"Well, Bella… Jess, Angela, me and the rest of our clique wanted to ask you, if you would want to… well… want to come to a camping trip with all of us." My mind went blank as he looked from my face to Emmett's, Alice's and finally Edward's, only to meet my own again at the end.

Camping.

With… _Mike_.

I knew that 'the rest of the clique' meant Tyler and Eric, too. Two boys which hadn't gotten yet the whole meaning of the fact that Edward and I will never break up with our relationship.

_Oh, joy_.

"Your friends can come, too, if they want." He shrugged when he saw no reaction on my face.

"Sure, we will come!" A feminine voice squeaked right next to me. "And don't worry, Bella will say yes, she's just in some kind of shock right now, that's all."

With those words, his face lit up a bit – not because Alice, Emmett and Edward (_especially Edward_) were coming, too, but because Alice assured him that I would say yes. He turned around, waved at me and with the words "I'll give you all the information you need tomorrow. See you later!" he went out of the hall.

My shocked state melted as soon as he was out of sight.

I turned around and looked in the faces of three highly amused vampires.

"CAMPING?!"


	3. Chapter three Say yes

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon. They belong to S.Meyer.

AN: Yay, Chapter three :) Thanks for reading and for all those wonderful reviews! I hope, my style is improving. Anyways. Just one question: Have you ever tried to write something while sitting in a train with a family who has two little children? Children whose hobby is "shout and scream until you suffocate"? Gnaaa… If you never tried it, you didn't miss anything…. Ow, my head… But on with the story!

Chapter 3 – Say yes

They were not serious about that, were they? How could Alice say I would join in on a camping trip?  
"Oh, come on, Bella, it's just a short trip and we will stay right by your side, nothing will happen to you!" Alice was practically bouncing on her seat while she said that.  
I took in a deep breath. I needed some strength to do what I was about to do.  
Win an argument with three dazzling vampires.

"Will you come with me for a moment, please?" I gestured to the backdoor of the cafeteria and tried to show a happy smile. A look on Emmett's face told me my smile wasn't a happy one but something like a mad man's grin.  
"Ew… Why? No one will listen to anything we discuss in this part of the building. Why do you need us outside?" Edward looked a bit unsure into my eyes. Maybe he could sense what was coming?  
I forced my voice to be as calm as possible. "Yes, they won't listen to me _talking_. But they _will_ listen to me while I'm on the edge of _screaming_."  
Edward, Alice and Emmett exchanged some sceptical looks but then nodded. "Ok, lead the way."

I got up, took my bag and put the remains of my meal into the next garbage can. Edward took my hand while I strode to the backdoor of our cafeteria while trying to avoid any eye contact with anyone of my human friends.  
As soon as the door closed behind us I turned around and started to glare at the three heavenly-looking creatures in front of me.  
Well, at least, that was the plan.  
Just when I spun around I tripped. Of course. And of course, Edward caught me in mid-air. I sighed. I could forget about my glare now, I was sure that at least Emmett would start laughing after this performance.  
"Ok, we are outside. So Bella, what's wrong with going on a nice little camping trip with your friends?" Emmett asked.  
I sighed once again. I really had to win this argument. If not, I was in for a weekend of utter humiliation.

"Well, do you guys have any idea which monstrous things roam the wild? I mean: Slickly stones, tangling roots,… Oh come on, you know that nature and I aren't on best terms with one another."  
"Stones? Roots? Man, Bella, I really thought you wanted to list things like tasty bears or lions, or anything like that." Emmett defiantly looked a bit hurt at first but couldn't hide a small smile creeping to his face.  
"Bella, as long as at least _one_ of us is with you, nothing will happen to you, trust me." Edward held me still in his arms and looked down on me, trying to dazzle me once more.  
He had a point, I knew that. I could not remember the last time I fell on the floor – each time I tripped, Edward was right by my side.

That was when I remembered something. "That's one more thing I don't understand, Edward. Why did you say yes to that invitation? I mean, I was quite a bit surprised when Mike asked me but when he asked you… I don't know but wasn't it meant that way that we humans are unconsciously frightened away from you? Why did he invite you? Don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous or anything because he did ask but still, I'm curious."  
Emmett smiled down on me. "That's quite a bunch of questions, Bella."  
"Well, why he asked us is an easy one." Edward tightened the hold he had on me a little bit. "That little kid of a guy wants you somewhere around him for several days. By the way, I won't allow him to take you with him even if it were only for a few minutes. Anyway, as he asked you, he heard no response to his question and that's because he thought he would have to invite us, too. I think, one of your next questions will be why we are going with a group of humans into the woods, quite some miles away from any civilisation and that for several days. Am I right?" Edward smirked a bit while asking me.

And he was right. The first time Edward and I were alone, he highly doubted that he would return me home afterwards. And now there were _three_ vampires and in the group of humans were at least four they did not really like: Lauren, Mike, Tyler and Eric_. That _mixed with the information Edward had about the place where the camping was supposed to take place was quite a dangerous mix.  
I think, he could read my thoughts from my face, because he cupped my head in his strong, cold hands and gave me a kiss on my lips.  
"Don't worry, love. That was one thing Alice and I were discussing this morning. We already asked Esme and Carlisle what they thought about our plans in joining you. They gave their permission under one condition: We will have to hunt a lot before the trip. That way, we hopefully won't be tempted. We asked Rose and Jasper, too, if they wanted to come with us but I think you can imagine their responses on your own."  
Emmett went on with the explanation: "Rose did not want to come because she got a nice new car just a few days ago and wants to tinker a bit with it. And to be honest: Rose is not anyone who would like a camping trip with a bunch of stupid humans." He winked at me when he said the last part. Sometimes, I just wasn't used to what they thought about '_us humans_'...

"And Jasper… Well, he said something along the lines of 'you guys have fun but I don't want to attend a buffet-dinner-party'." Alice smiled an apologetic smile.  
It sent icy chills down my spine to think what would happen if Jasper would be there, too. "Yes, I think that was a very good decision…" I murmured. Edward could feel my insecurity during my thought and rubbed my back with one of his hands.

Emmett reached out with one of his huge hands and ruffled my hair with a smirk. "Bella, nothing will happen. At least… not to us.""What do you mean by that, Emmett?" I snuggled closer to Edward (I was a bit surprised that was even possible) and gave Emmett a wary look.  
"Nah, I won't tell you, that would take the fun away. So, please tell, are you going? Please, little sister, say yes. It will be so much fun!"  
Emmett knew he could get me with that. Since our, well in fact more like _my_ vote, on me joining the family he started calling me little sister. Edward wasn't very happy with that but had nothing to stop Emmet. I had to smile and put my forehead on Edward's hard chest to hide it. "I would not go there for all the tea in China, that's final."

Edward, Emmett and Alice looked pretty surprised – I did not really see it but could guess it since there was a short silence after my decision. I think, I just may win this argument...  
Edward put one of his slender fingers under my chin and pulled my face up so I had to look into his eyes. Oh, no, not again.  
In his most velvety and seductive voice, he said: "I won't give you any tea but what do you think about a kiss?"  
Brace yourself, Bella, just once!  
"I'd get that one anyway, wouldn't I?" My voice was nothing more than a trembling whisper but I knew he heard it nevertheless.  
"I am talking about a _real_ one, my love, not a fleeting one like as hitherto. I'd even push the boundaries a little…" While speaking, he let his breath fan over my face and I knew I had lost once more.  
His icy and strong lips were nothing but a mere inch away from my own ones and I needed to feel them on me.  
"Say yes, my dear and I'll grant you that wish." His golden eyes swirled and even if I wanted to, I knew I could not look away. His voice was like a whisper and I wasn't even sure if he really said that or if it was my own imagination playing tricks on me.  
"Yes…" I sighed. The moment the word left my mouth his lips came down on mine in one of the most passionate kisses we had so far. I couldn't help but my hands reached up and behind his neck and head, entwined in his hair. Surprisingly, he did not resist. All of a sudden, I felt his tongue grace my lower lip but it happened so fast that I could not respond to it in time.

The kiss lasted longer than usually and when he pulled away eventually, he smiled my favourite smile down on me. He was panting just like me although he did not need the air.  
"I hope you still know you promised me to attend to that camping trip, my love?"  
I heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes, I do. But… Why now? Why could you not kiss me like that until now?" I pouted a bit. The kiss was wonderful. I bit on my lower lip and licked the very sweet bit of venom off of it. Well, at least I thought it was venom. I never tasted something so delicious before and was sure that it smelled similar like his lips.

I had to stop myself on that trail of thought. I knew it would let me to the thought of how he would taste if our kiss would go just a _bit_ further…

Edward saw what I did and smiled his distinctive crocked smile. I could feel the blush creeping to my head.  
He leaned down till his lips were right at my right ear. "Because I knew I would need something you could not resist in a case just like this." His cold breath sent shivers from my head down to my toes. "But don't worry, I enjoyed it too much myself; I won't restrain from it completely – but be careful when you do that on my neck again, you have no idea how tempting you are, my love."  
He gave my a sweet little kiss on my lips and then I heard two low chuckles behind me.

_Oh, no_. I did not forget about Emmett and Alice, did I? Oh, _please_, somebody kill me, I want to die! Edward held me tight in his arms and I buried my face again into his chest. I was sure: My head was glowing like a traffic sign.

"Aww, how cute! And thanks for saying yes, Bella. We will have to go shopping to get all the things you need for the trip but that won't take long." Shopping? Oh, come on, how worse can this day get?

Right at this moment, I could hear the bell. Lunch time was over.  
Edward stepped a step backwards and took my hand in his one, giving it a short kiss. They wanted me to stay red, right? Come and play humiliate the human! Fun for the whole family!

"Ready to go to gym?" my beloved one asked.  
"That was a rhetorical question, right?"

He smiled down at me and just when we were a few feet away from his brother and sister, Emmett exclaimed chuckling: "And be careful Bella! I think, you might be the first human in history who became a vampire-venom-addicted!"


	4. Chapter four Details

AN: Yay :) I have no university today so I'm taking my time to write more. Right now, I'm sitting on my bed, listen to Fergi and eating frozen raspberries. You should try those, they are great! (Even better than candy…)  
Thanks once more for your reviews! I could dance a happy dance for every review I get X)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon.

* * *

Chapter 4 – Details

Emmett's last remark set my cheeks on fire. Even _he_ noticed. Oh, no… He would remind me pretty often about that, I'm sure.  
But I could not help it, Edward is just so… tasty?  
"What are you thinking about, Bella? I never saw you blush for such a long time." His right arm crept around my waist and held me close to him.  
"Eh… It's nothing, really." I could not tell him.  
"Ok, let me try something, then." We were standing right in front of the sports hall now. It seemed as if everybody was already in there because the place in front of the building was vacant.

Edward spun me around to face him once again and gave me a quick kiss on my lips. I did not know how he did that in such a short time but I was pretty sure I felt his tongue again on my lower lip. The sweet scent of his venom reached my nose.I squeaked a little and tried to free me before the red colour on my cheeks became permanent, but _surprisingly_ I had no chance against Edward's iron grip on my waist. He showed my favourite crooked smile while gazing down on me.  
"Yes, I thought already it was about _that_."  
"Why do you do that to me?" I new I whined a little and pressed my forehead on his strong chest.  
"Do what? Pleasure you?" His eyes were twinkling.  
I tool a deep breath. "Yes?"  
"Well… Bella, you are not the only one who is quite… _tasty_. Although I'm not happy that you seem to like my venom pretty much, you have a scent on your lips that is just _irresistible_."  
He kissed my forehead lightly while I was standing there, completely dumbfounded. Why does he always know what to say? Is that a vampire thing, too?  
"Come on, we are going to be late for class, everybody else is already in there."

Since Edward returned to school after the trip to Volterra, we had gym together. I could not understand why but I was sure, he let his vampiric charm play with the poor school's secretary. No one could deny him anything if he used that – and I knew best about that fact.  
I did not know why he chose gym of all the possible classes he could take together with me. Maybe that was because he liked to see me fall and himself catching me. Maybe he wanted to look good for me while he left all the other boys in class behind him in each and every discipline. After all, he was still a boy and did not every boy want to look good for his girl? Any way, each time he catches me after tripping or after beating another boy in a discipline, I received glares from most of the other girls in class.  
I tried to tell Edward what I was thinking about him catching me all the time – he did not need to know my second line of thoughts – but he just said that I was stuck with him and that he could do _nothing_ to change classes again. Yeah, sure.

Anyway, even gym classes tend to come to an end eventually. And the end of gym means? Yes, right: End of school today. Now I had to work at Newton's for two hours and then I could finally spend the rest of the day together with Edward.  
As I walked out of the building after changing my clothes, Edward was already leaning on the wall, waiting for me.  
"Hi." He smiled as I walked towards him.  
"Hi again, little Mr Show-off." I smirked a bit as I leaned on him and let his arms sneak around my waist.  
"Oh, come on, Crowley deserved it. The whole game he could not get his eyes from your…" He was on a loss of words and looked past me. I could feel a low growl form in his chest.  
"My what?" Did I really want to know?  
"Never mind. But his expression was priceless, as I slam dunked the ball right in front of his eyes, you will have to agree to that." He let out a chuckle and flashed some of his teeth in a wide grin.  
"Edward, even our teacher could not make such a slam dunk, that was more like something from a pro player, not from a student."  
He raised one brow, bent his head to one side and showed his crooked smile.  
"But yeah, it looked great, Edward. I don't know what Tyler was thinking about, let alone what he was staring at, but as far as you don't hurt him physically, it's ok, I think." To be honest, I was speechless as I watched him dunking that poor ball right in front of Eric, Tyler and Mike. They were far from amused and Edward had looked like a professional player right then. As I remembered, I could feel a grin spread on my face.  
"You liked it." He stated matter-of-factly.  
I hesitated a bit, but answered: "Yes."

"Hey, Bella, will we meet at the shop in half an hour?"Mike. Leave it to him to interrupt a moment of utter happiness.  
"Yes Mike, I'll be there. See you soon!"  
As I turned around to Edward once again, I could see that he listened to Mike's thoughts – and he wasn't happy with what he heard.  
"I don't like him. Neither him nor his thoughts." He stated.  
"Nevertheless, you are going on a camping trip with him, Eric, Tyler and some other _humans_ and I'm pretty sure the girls won't have many nice thoughts, either."  
An evil grin spread across his face. "Yes and after that trip, I'm sure that at least the _boys_ won't come near you again if I'm around – and I will be around every possible moment."  
Poor guys. But I was just too frightened to ask what Edward was planning to do to them.  
"Ok, let's go. You can leave your things in the backseat of my car if you want, I'll be there to pick you up after work."  
"You just don't want to loose time with me while I'm tripping my way to my house to leave my things there, right?"  
"_Maybe_." There was a low but playful growl coming from inside of him.

The car drive to Newton's was silent. Edward drove a reasonable speed, which surprised me a bit. He held my hand in his strong one the whole drive. As he pulled into the parking lot at the store, he looked deep into my eyes.  
"He wants to talk about the trip and give you all the information you need. Alice will take you shopping tomorrow after school, so you can get everything you need. I don't really think that you have anything you could need for a trip like the upcoming one." He saw my frown and just when I was about to protest, he added: "Don't worry. I will come along with you and watch out that it won't take too long." He winked at me.  
I raised a brow. "Too long? Do you measure that in vampire time or human time?"  
Edward just chuckled, got out of the car and helped me out of it after I unbuckled.  
"Be safe, Bella. I love you."  
"I will. I love you too, Edward."  
A short kiss later, his shiny Volvo drove away from the store.

"Hey, Bella!" Mike greeted as I entered the store. I said hello and took the small nametag out of my back pocket."Did you already think about the trip?" Of course that would be the first question he'd ask.  
"Uhm… yes." _Thinking_ was not really what I was doing while saying 'yes' to Edward's request, but anyway.  
"Yes, you thought about it, or yes you will come with us?" I could see a light frown on his face and smiled.  
"Both. Yes, I will join you on your trip, just like Alice, Emmett and Edward will, too." Better make it clear that I won't be alone. Mike did not have to get his hopes up. When I mentioned Emmett and Edward, I could see that he was trying to hide a frown. It is surprising how living with vampires heightens the senses for facial expressions. All the Cullens could hide what they think (at least from me, I was sure Edward knows everything) and I could never be 100 percent sure that what I saw on their faces was what they really felt. In comparison to that, humans were as open as books.  
"Cool. Do you have any experience with camping?"  
Was he serious? I really had to stifle a laugh. "No, sorry, Mike. Nature and I don't come along well normally. But I'll try it and maybe I'll survive it."  
"Ah, yes, I thought something like that after I talked to you. Anyway. Do you want to know where we are headed and what will await you? I don't think there will be many customers today, still something about those big wolfs or bears around town…"  
To be correct: Werewolves. But he did not need to know that. I was surprised that they were seen so often. Maybe they got a bit careless, because the hunt of Victoria took so long? But I did not want to think about that at this moment.  
"Sure, fill me in on the details. Alice and Edward will take me shopping tomorrow, it would be nice to know what I need to get."  
"Oh, I don't think you will have to buy much. The place I chose is one with small cabins around a huge fireplace. In one of the cabins is a small kitchen so we have enough room to store our food away. We will divide the cabins, so that in one cabin there are the boys while in the other are the girls."  
Oh, great. To be honest, I was scared that we might have to sleep in tents, compared to that _cabins_ sound much better. But Mike, Tyler, Eric, Emmett and Edward in one room for two nights? Poor guys – and I'm talking about the humans.

"Bella? Are you still listening?" Mike's voice brought me back to reality.  
"Ah, yes, sorry. I kind of zoned out a bit."  
"Yes, I thought so… But on with the explanations. The whole camping ground is in the middle of a huge forest, about three hours driving from here." _Great_. Forest all around. "I already asked, there are no wild animals out there. But, if there are… I'll protect you, Bella." He looked quite uncomfortable saying that and all I could think of was: _Yeah, sure_. I want to see how you would protect me from a wild animal when Edward could not do that.  
"Mike, just don't think about wild animals, ok? It makes me a bit… Well…"  
"Yeah, of course. I'll drop that topic. On with the planning. The day we arrive at the camping grounds, we will just move in. At night, we will have a scary-story-contest, how does that sound to you?" A huge grin was plastered on his face.  
"Eh… Scary?" I'm curious how many vampire stories will be told… Poor vampires.  
Mike let out a laugh. "Right!" The twinkling in his eyes left no doubt that he wanted to tell a better story than a certain boyfriend of me. Poor Mike, if he only knew that Edward himself was kind of a walking scary story… Well, not to me, but I'm sure Edward would get his '_running and screaming_' if Mike would find out. Although I wouldn't be the one doing that.  
"The second day, we could go swimming or make something like a scavenger hunt through the woods, and –"  
"Swimming?!" Where did he want to go swimming in the middle of a forest?  
"Eh.. yes? There is a lake near the camping ground and its water is always warm. Don't ask me why, you are way better in biology and geology than me, but I know for sure that someone can swim in the water without getting cold."  
I was dumbfounded. Swimming? That would mean that I would see Edward only in his bathing trunks! Ok, everybody else would see him, too… Hm… I wonder, what Lauren will do? Or Jessica? Oh, I'm in for trouble. Anyway, I get to see him in swimming trunks! The trip seems to work out better than I thought in the beginning…

"Bella? Everything's ok with you? You are jumping up and down since about five minutes, giggling and grinning like a madman… I'm getting scared a bit, you know?" Mike stood across from me, leaning on the counter and raised his left brow, looking utterly confused.  
"Eh… It's nothing, well, it's just… I like swimming." That wasn't a lie but I hope, he won't ask any further questions.  
"You seem to like it very much, according to your behaviour… But ok. We did not plan what we will do on Sunday, our third day there. We will have to leave the ground around the late afternoon, but what we will do till then will be thought up spontaneously. Any questions left?"  
"Yes. Do I need a sleeping bag, or are there beds? And what about bathrooms?"  
"There are plenty of beds, believe me. And about the bathrooms… Yes, there is a separate cabin only for that. We will have to make a schedule, who can use the showers at which time, though. There are enough, but I don't think you girls would like to shower together with us guys, am I right?" Now it was his turn to grin like a madman.  
I wanted to reply something but couldn't think of anything, so I just glared at him.

"Ok, one last question. When do we start?"  
"This Friday. After school, we will go and get all the things we need. One hour after school we will meet in front of our store and then: Into the wild!"  
"Ok, thanks for the information, Mike. Seems as if it will turn out to be a great weekend." If I won't trip and break a bone or something.  
"Of course! Hey, we planned it at least a month! And Bella? I'm really happy that you will come with us."  
"Yes, but don't get your hopes up too high. Edward will be there, too." I could not hide the small smile on my face.  
"Yeah… Ah, by the way: Do you know where he learned to slam dunk? Man, he truly looked like a pro!"  
I held on to the counter and laughed. "He likes to practice with his brothers. He has to be good when playing against Emmett." And besides, I'm sure he could do even better and more awe-inspiring, because he can move faster and jump higher than you will ever be able to do, but you'll never see that… Hopefully, I will.  
As I mentioned Emmett, I could see Mike flinch a bit. Edwards 'brother' could be very intimidating, even if he does not intend to do so.

The rest of the time went by fast. I had to tidy up some of the shelves on the other side of the store and even though Mike thought that no one would come today, he got some customers.  
"Mike, I'm finish for today! See you at school tomorrow!" I waved at him as I left the store. Sure enough, Edward's Volvo was parked right in the same spot like two hours earlier.

He leaned on the passenger's door and smiled my favourite crooked smile.  
"How was it?" he asked.  
"Oh, nice. He told me about the trip, just as you said. I think, it will be an interesting weekend."  
He hugged me in a thigh embrace but let me enough room to breath.  
"I think so, too…"  
He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead, and then held the door open so that I could climb into the passenger's seat.  
"Bella, I won't be around tonight, I'm sorry."  
"You need to hunt, right?"  
"Exactly. If something happens, you can phone Esme, Carlisle, Rose or Jasper, they will be at home tonight. I think, we will have to hunt much until Friday, so I'm quite sure we won't be at school tomorrow… I'll send you a message to your cell phone when we need more time than just tonight, so you won't have to wait in vain tomorrow morning. Ok?"  
We were already in the driveway of Charlie's house when he finished.  
Half a day without Edward? I sighed. "It's ok. It's just that I don't like to be parted from you for such a long time. But anyway, take the time you need and be safe, ok?"  
He smiled his crooked smile on my last remark. "Nothing will happen to me, I promise, Bella. Be safe yourself, I would not like to know that something happened to you while I was away."  
"You don't like that if you are with me, too."  
"That's right."  
We smiled for a short time at each other.

Eventually, I unbuckled my seatbelt and when I wanted to open the door, Edward already held it open for me. I'll never get used to his speed."Thanks."  
I took his outstretched hand and stepped out of the car. Right when I was standing in front of him, the door already closed, he took my wrists in his strong hands and pinned me on the side of his car. An impish grin spread across his face. It send an icy chill down my spine.  
"Edward?" What was he up to?  
"Shh… Be very still, my love."  
His body touched mine and even if I wanted to, I wasn't able to move. Our eyes locked and I wasn't even able to blink.  
"One last kiss for today." His breath hit me full force and once again today, my legs felt like pudding. Our lips met in a very passionate kiss. This time, I was prepared as I felt his tongue on my lower lip and parted my lips to invite him. I felt him stop in his motions and I was sure he debated in his head if it was safe enough to follow my invitation.

His head said yes.

Slowly, I felt his tongue slip between my lips and for a very shot time, my own tongue met his. He pulled back and I had to remind me how to breathe. Yes, my train of thought from earlier today was totally right. He tasted even better when I did not have his venom only on my lower lip.  
We both took some deep breaths and I had the heart to open my eyes again – I didn't even know I closed them during the kiss. Edward had his forehead leaning on my won while my wrists were still in his iron-like grip. My heart was beating unregularly but I already thought that this would happen.  
"Let's say bye to some boundaries, won't we?" His eyes were sparkling as he asked that.  
I whispered my answer. I did not know if I was capable of much more. "Sure."  
Edward grinned again. "And by the way, Bella, Emmett was right."  
Oh, no.  
"What do you mean?" My voice was still a bit shaky.  
"You are addicted, you crazy, little human."  
I felt the familiar red blush creep across my cheeks, setting them on flames.  
"Yes, I am, I admit it. But so are you, my beloved vampire."  
"Completely true."

He gave me one quick kiss on the lips again and then released his grip on my wrists.  
"Sorry to say this, but Alice and Emmett are waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow at school, ok?"  
"Sure! I wish you much fun and happy hunting." I winked at him, he flashed his teeth in a wide grin.  
"We will have that. Bye, Bella, I love you."  
"I love you, Edward."

I went to the front door of the house. It only dawned on me now, but Charlie wasn't at home yet – luckily. I did not want to know what he would say after he saw Edward and me out there… Whoa, my legs were still like pudding… Anyway, Edward's scent and taste still lingers on my lips. Hmm…. I really hope, we will be able to kiss that way that more often…

As I opened the door, I heard Edward's car pull away.

Yes, we were really two addicted.

* * *

AN: Sorry about the end, I just could not restrain from the fluff. I love fluff… Please tell me, what you think about it :) (Hm. This chapter turned out to be longer than I planned it…) 


	5. Chapter five After school

AN: Somehow, this chapter is quite as long as half of the story up to now. I'm getting a bit scared here, I didn't plan that o.O°  
Anyway. Just a funny note by the way: Did you know that you can learn English (starting in grade 5, ending in grade 13 and then on in University) without EVER learn vocabulary for the kitchen? Man, I was going crazy in that part, I had to look up quite every second word! I learned how to analyse Shakespeare but if I would have to buy a pot for noodles in England or America, I would have some mayor problems, that's for sure.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon. Doesn't the word "FANfic" already tell that o.O?

* * *

Chapter five – After schoolI put my jacket on the coat rack and went into the kitchen. The big clock on the wall told me that it was half past five; Charlie would be home in about half an hour. I wonder how I'm going to tell him about the trip? I mean, he will know that I would never agree out of my free will on something like that. I just hope, he won't think that Edward made me agree to it… What he did, no doubt in that, but anyway. It was time that Charlie got on better terms about Edward. 

Ok, now, what to cook? I knew there was plenty of fish in the freezer but that won't swim away anymore – and I really did not fancy fish now.  
I looked through the drawers and found some spaghetti. There were plenty tomatoes in the fridge, so I decided to make some of that.

The water was already boiling and I put the noodles in the pot, when I heard Charlie's footsteps on the porch. I opened the door for him and stepped a step back when I realized that he was wet from head to toe. I didn't realize it was raining.

"Hey, dad. How was the work?" I asked, as he stepped in.

"Hey, Bells. Nah, work was like always. Forks is a nice and quiet town, nothing happens."

Yeah. Hopefully, he will never know the truth. I think there is no other city like Forks out there again – I mean: We have vampires and werewolves, what could any other city hold against _that_?

Charlie went up into his room to change his soaked clothes.

"Dad, dinner will be ready in ten minutes!"

"Ok, Bells! Eh… What are we having for dinner, Bells? I can't smell fish."

I had to giggle. How can one person become so addicted of fish? But ok, how can a human become addicted to the taste of venom…

"Spaghetti!" I called up the stairs.

I went back into the kitchen and put plates on the table. Everything else was already finished.  
I took the boiling water off the stove and put the sliced tomatoes and noodles on the table. Right in that moment, dad went into the kitchen.

"Looks good, Bells. Hopefully, it will taste as well." He winked and smiled in my direction.

I grinned back. "Dad, when was the last time I made dinner and it was disgusting?"

"Ah, let me think…" He took a seat and made a face as if he was thinking really hard. "No, I can't remember. Enjoy the meal!" With that, he filled his plate with dinner and began eating. I took my share of the meal and we ate in a comfortable silence.  
When we were finished, I took the dirty dishes and put them into the sink. It was time to tell dad what I would be doing during the weekend.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Bells?" He was already standing and on his way to the living room. I guessed, there would be a play on TV tonight.

"Dad, some of my friends asked me if I want to come with them on a camping trip this weekend."

He raised one of his brows. "You? Camping?"

I leaned on the counter and let a low chuckle escape. "Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking. But I thought really hard about it and said I would come with them. Is that ok, dad?"

He had a sceptical look on his face and asked: "First, where is this camping ground you are going to stay on and second, who will come with you?"

"I don't know the name of the place, Mike didn't mention it. Anyway, it is about a three hour drive from Forks and he said there will be kind of a warm lake right next to the camping place."

"Ah, yes, I know that place. It's very nice there – and safe. There are no wild animals in that region."

"Thanks for the info, dad. And about who is going… Well, all of my friends, actually." Ok, they were not all really close friends, but dad did not need to know that. "Mike, Tyler, Eric, Lauren, Jessica, Angela, Emmett, Edward and Alice."

"Edward, Emmett and Alice, too?"

"Eh, yes? Why not? You know how often they are on camping trips, they really enjoy those. In fact, Alice and Edward want to come tomorrow and take me to the mall… I'll need some things so I won't starve out there." If dad would know what kind of 'camping trips' the Cullens use to have…

"Oh, yes, that will be a good idea. Ok, you get my permission, Bella. But please be careful, ok?"

"Sure, dad."

"When will you start your trip?"

"Friday after school. I think, the Cullens and I will be driving in Edward's Volvo."

"That's good. I checked if Edward had any problems with the rules of the road, but I never saw that a boy his age had so… few entries in his file… Normally, boys tend to drive faster than allowed but he seems to be a very reasonable driver. I think, you'll be safe with him."  
It was a real good thing that I was still leaning on the counter. Edward? A reasonable driver? Yeah, dream on, dad. It was really hard to hold back my laughter and just let a smile show. Then it hit me.

"You checked Edward's file?! Why?"

"Well, Bella," he was getting nervous and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I know you like that boy and I know that he picks you up for school and work and after that, too. I just had to be certain that you would be in good hands with him." He gave me a small smile.

I sighed. "Ok, dad. But next time you want to know something, just ask him, ok? At least ask him for the permission to look in his file. I know you are a cop, but it is just polite to ask."

He chuckled and then nodded. "Ok, Bells. Was that everything?"

"Yes, dad. Have fun looking the play, I'll go upstairs and do my homework."

"Thanks, Bells. Ah, and before I forget: Do you need money to buy the things you need? You know, I never gave you any pocket money, but-"

"Dad, that's all right. I'm working, remember? I have enough money to buy those things on my own." Hopefully, Alice and Edward would let me. Maybe I should learn how to pickpocket… I could get their credit cards out of their wallets and then they won't be able to pay… Hm… Nah, who am I kidding? As if I would be able to sneak up to them, let alone get their wallets in my hands.

While I was in thoughts, I already reached the door to my room. I closed the door behind me, put my schoolbooks in the corner and laid down on my bed, covering my head with my pillow.

Hmm… But maybe, it wasn't as impossible as I thought? I mean, Alice is a shopaholic, she most likely won't even notice my attempt to take away her card if she's in full-shopping-mode. Edward would be a problem, though. I wasn't even sure where he put his wallet. I guess, he would have it in his trouser pocket – but I can't actually reach in there and pull out his card. With all of his super vampire senses… I mean, he'd _feel_ that, wouldn't he? I really had to work on a plan.

Wait a moment, did I really think that?

Hmm…

I could feel a blush creeping on my cheeks. Yes, I was thinking that and honestly, I enjoyed those thoughts. That wasn't a good thing, I mean, my dad is a cop and I was thinking about how to pickpocket.

I decided I needed a cold shower. Maybe that would freeze my thoughts and will make them disappear.  
I fetched my things and went to the bathroom.  
The shower was great, even though it was ice-cold. But it helped a little to quiet my mind. I really had to get other thoughts.

Back in my room, I took my books out of the corner and started my homework. It was weird to sit in my room, seeing the colours of the day slowly fade away, without Edward. I was used to have him right at my side.  
The homework did not take long and so I was finished with everything around eleven o'clock. It was late enough to lay down and try to sleep, so I put my things back in my bag and laid down.

I snuggled near the wall at the side of my bed. It was not even feeling a bit similar to Edwards stone like and cold chest behind me, but somehow I needed something cool around me to drift into sleep. Not that I would tell Edward that I was trying to substitute a wall for him, but anyway. He would never know (or so I hope).

Just when I closed my eyes, I heard my cell phone ring once. Edward had given me the phone as a gift. He thought, I'd need it someday. He was right, though. Sometimes, if he was hunting and it took longer than he thought, he sent me a message so that I would not worry about him. Just like now: As I looked on the small display, it said I had a message – and since only the Cullens had my number, I was sure it was from Edward.

I was correct. With a few pushes of the buttons, I had his message on the screen.

_Dear Bella,  
Emmett found some bears and we will stay a little bit longer. We will pick you up after school tomorrow.  
Be safe,_

_Edward._

I had to smile. If anybody but me would read the message, I think they would have a hard time trying to understand what _bears_ had to do with the rest of it.  
I closed the message and out the phone back on my nightstand. I had to drive my truck to school tomorrow. Whew, when was the last time I did that? I can't even recall it…  
The next time, I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.

The next morning went by in a blur. Jessica was babbling the whole time what she would take with her and asked me in return what I would take with me. All I understood was that she wanted to look pretty for Mike and so quite all her clothes were more like the things I used to wear in Phoenix during the summer – and not something one could use in the woods while it was cold and raining. I told her that but she just ignored me. Ok, her decision.

Lunch was just the same. I was sitting with the others who would join in on the trip and so it was clear what we would be talking about the whole lunch break. All the time, I could feel the eyes of Mike, Tyler and Eric on me, but whenever I looked up, they looked somewhere else. It felt… irritating. I was sure that, if Edward would be here, he would growl because of their behaving.

Eventually, school was out. Somehow I survived even gym!

I was a bit late as I walked out of the front door, everybody else was already on his or her way home and so, the parking lot and place around the sports building was vacant.  
As I walked round the corner of the building, I could already see Alice and Edward, standing right next to Edward's Volvo in the parking lot. Wait a minute, was that Emmett standing in the background? Somehow, I got a bad feeling in my gut.

I crocked my head to one side and eyed the three gorgeous vampires. Edward was half leaning, half sitting on the hood of his car, his arms crossed over his chest. Alice was leaning relaxed at the passenger's door, her arms, too, were crossed over her chest. Emmett was standing next to Alice, same pose.

To be honest, they were pretty much intimidating right then, but what freaked me out the most was that all three of them had this evil glint in their eyes while grinning like madmen. My gut told me, that it would be best to turn around and run but I was already standing right in front of the car, eying them suspiciously.

"Ok guys, I don't know what's going on, but if you won't tell me you'll get your running and screaming."

Emmett let out a low chuckle and Edward bit his lower lip, then flashed his teeth in a wide grin. "Oh, I don't think you'll go, let alone _run_, anywhere, Bella." I couldn't move. A few weeks ago, he had told me that vampires could use their voice to make their prey do what they want. Now I knew how that voice sounded: Indescribable velvety. It sent chills from my head to my toe.

"Aw, the little human is frightened… How cute." Now it was Emmett's turn to flash me a wide grin. Yes, he was right. I wasn't afraid for my life tough. What on earth did I do to make them act like this?

Edward propped himself from his half sitting position and went towards me. Our eyes were locked, I could not even blink, let alone look away. I never saw him act this way before.  
He was still grinning as he stood right in front of me and laid his hand of my shoulder.

"Come with me, Bella." Again this unbearable velvety voice.

He spun me around and led me away form the car, to the backside of the building. I felt Emmett's and Alice's presence right behind me while Edward had still his hand on my shoulder and was walking on my right side. Still, he had the evil glint in his eyes, although now he even looked… amused? I wasn't sure, but before I could think about it, we had reached their destination – a _very_ vacant place right behind the sports building.

Once more, Edward spun me around and my back was now pressed against the back wall of the building. Very slowly, he took my wrists in his hands and pinned them on the height of my shoulders.

I was pretty nervous and bit on my lower lip. My mind was blank, I couldn't think of anything wrong I had done. Emmett and Alice positioned themselves some meters behind Edward, Emmett on the left side, Alice on the right side. Yet, they had their arms crossed. But I saw that only out of the corner of my eye since I was still focused on Edward's eyes. I was sure now: He looked amused. I was even surer about the fact that he seemed to like my current state. I had to gulp. Whatever was coming, it wasn't good.

Edward let out a low chuckle, as he sensed my uneasiness and heard my heartbeat quicken.

"Bella," his voice was his normal one again and I was really thankful for that, but it seemed that the impish grin on his face intensified. "Do you know that it is against the law when you try to rob someone?"

_Oh no._

No, that can't be happening.  
It felt as if my head couldn't choose between blushing furiously or just loose all the colour that was there.  
The heat on my cheeks told me the blush had won.  
Emmett couldn't hold it anymore; he let out his booming laugh and let his pose relax.

"Did you hear me, Bella?" Edward half bit on his lower lip and was still grinning.

I was _mortified_.

"How… Why…" Then it dawned on me. _Alice_. She saw it. "Oh, come on, that wasn't even a descision! Alice wasn't supposed to see that!" Now Edward and Alice joined Emmett with their laugher. I tried to free my wrists from Edwards grasp but I knew right away that it was a fruitless attempt.

"My dear little Bella, it seemed that somehow it became a descision and as far as our family is concerned, I can even see the most irrelevant things. And by the way, Edward and I have more than just _one_ credit card." Her grin was wide.

I am not going to live through that, I was sure.

I leaned limp on the wall, my head hung down and I was staring at the ground. My resistance subsided. I could feel tears of embarrassment starting to form and blinked several times so they would go away. Surprisingly, they did.

"Bella, of all the humans in this town, especially _you_ as the daughter of the police chief should know the law. What would Charlie say if I would have to tell him that you robbed me, hum?" Edward let go of one of my wrists but put a finger under my chin so he could tilt my head up to look into my eyes. Amusement was still written all over his face.

I just looked at him with pleading eyes. He wouldn't tell Charlie, would he? I mean, I didn't even _do_ something!

"Bella, I'm really sorry to tell you this," he wasn't sorry at all, I could see that, "But since you planned to rob my sister _and_ me, I'll have to punish you in some way. I hope you'll understand that."

"I didn't even do something! Besides, I'm sure I would not have succeeded in what I was planning…"

He let out a low chuckle, then looked again in my eyes.

"Ah, you admit you planned it… And that's right, you would not have succeeded. But even when a bank robbery isn't successful, the robbers are punished, aren't they? It's up to you, what I will do. Should I tell your dad – and trust me, he will believe me – or do you want _me_ to punish you?"

I was pretty sure I heard that extreme velvety voice as he spoke the last words but had no proof of that. Anyway, he didn't need to ask. He knew right from the beginning, what I would choose.

"You already know what I'll choose, so just tell me: What's my punishment?" In the corner of my eye I could see that Emmett and Alice pulled themselves together again but were still grinning.  
Edward seemed happy about my decision.

"Give me your wallet." He said with a smirk.

Did he just…? Yes, he did. I sighed.

_No way._

"You can't be serious." Can he?

"My love, I think you are smarter than to pick a fight with three vampires."

I heaved a heavy sigh. He always knew how he could get me.  
I said nothing more, just fished my wallet out of my pocket and handed it to him. He let got of my second wrist as he took my credit card out of my wallet and handed the rest back to me.

"Smart little human." Emmett praised.

"Cheaters." My voice was nothing more than a whisper but I knew they could hear me. Alice, Emmett and Edward let out low chuckles, then Edward pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed my forehead.

"Sorry Bella, we just could not resist." He whispered into my right ear after he kissed the soft spot right under it.

I sighed again but said nothing more. I just wanted to go home after that.

Oh no.

I completely forgot about the fact that we would go shopping right after school! And at this moment, Edward had my credit card in his wallet. Great, now he had an excuse why he could pay for everything.

"Aw, don't make that face Bella." That was Alice. We were already walking back to the car and Edward had one of his arms tightly around my waist. "Trust me, I know exactly where we can go shopping and believe me or not, it will be only _one_ shop!"

I looked into her eyes with a slight smile on my lips. "Yes, you are right. I won't believe you." She just grinned back.

Edward placed me in the passenger's seat and was sitting in the driver's seat in a flash. Only a few seconds later, we were on the road, heading to whichever store they wanted to go to.  
Emmett was sitting right behind me and while Edward was driving, I tried to look at his brother. "Emmett? Why are you coming, too? Not, that I don't want to have you with us, but anyway, I'm curious."

His eyes were twinkling. "Please don't be mad, little sister, but I just could not hold myself back, I wanted to see what Edward and Alice would be doing to you after Alice had the vision."

"Why aren't I surprised? But ok, you are forgiven, Emmett…" I turned around to face the front once more, then I felt some _really_ strong arms from behind around me.

"Thanks, little sister."

As he let go of me, I had to fill my lungs again with air. Edward glared at his brother and let out a low growl.

"Don't let my girl suffocate, Emmett."

"Nah, I won't, trust me."

Right at that moment, we pulled into a huge parking lot in front of an even bigger building. Ok, maybe it was only one shop, but that shop was… gigantic.  
I unbuckled and Edward was already by my side to hold the door of the car open for me. I gave him a small smile, then reached for his hand. Emmett and Alice were already at our side and then we were on our way to the shop.  
I reached into my pocket and took the small piece of paper out of it, where I had written down what I would need for the trip. One pair of long jeans, some food and a bathing suit. I left my last suit in Phoenix, so I had none in Forks. Alice looked over my shoulder onto the small piece of paper, then squealed.

"Oh, you need a bathing suit? Great! This store has such a big collection, I'm sure we will find one!" With these words, she took my hand and pulled me away from Edward. We were almost running to the part of the shop where they had the bathing suits and of course within minutes, Alice had both her arms full of all kinds of suits.

"So, try these on, Bella. I'm sure they'll fit you!"

Yeah, of course they will fit me. Alice and I were often enough shopping together so she knew exactly which measures I have.

As I stood in the dressing room, I heard Edward's velvety voice right from the other side of the curtain. His normal velvety voice, not that from earlier. I really hoped, I wouldn't hear that in a long time.

"May I have a look when you finished dressing yourself?" he asked.

I felt my cheeks blush. Suddenly I became aware of the fact that he had never seen me in a bathing suit and what I was wearing right now was a navy blue bikini - nothing that would cover much of my body.  
He felt my hesitation.

"I won't if you don't want me to." His voice was gentle but I think, I could hear a slight bit of hurt in it.

I took another breath and answered. "No, it's ok, you may have a look."

I faced the mirror across from the curtain as I saw his head appear between the curtain and the wall of the dressing room. My cheeks flushed once more as I saw that he took every detail of my body in as he looked from my eyes down to the bit fabric I wore.

"Beautiful." he whispered.

"Edward! Get out of the girls dressing room, _now_!" I heard a furious Alice call. A playful fury, I knew so much, but nevertheless. Edward chuckled, rolled his eyes, winked at me and vanished.  
I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. He liked what he saw, no matter how plain my body is. Somehow, that gave me some encouragement.  
I tried every other bathing suit and bikini Alice had handed me, but there was no one I liked as much as the blue bikini, so I told Alice I would want that one. She eyed me suspiciously and then looked at Edward but said nothing.  
Anyway, Edward was faster than Alice and had already paid for my bikini when his sister was still looking at me again.  
It made me a bit nervous to know that my _boyfriend_ bought me a bikini, but I completely forgot about that thought as he pulled me into a kiss right outside the store.

The hunt for a pair of jeans was an easy and fast one. Alice looked at a rack full of jeans, picked one out, showed it to me and since I liked it (and knew it would fit me perfectly), Edward bought it. I sighed as I saw him standing at the counter as he put his credit card back into his pocket. Someday, I will be able to pay for what I want to buy myself, although that would mean I could never shop in a shop like this. I had stopped to look at the price tags right after the second bathing suit in the last part of the store.

Getting the food I needed was just as easy as normally. I thought I would get some tinned food for me, because I did not really want to stand long in the kitchen to cook something. They looked at the things I put into my shopping cart with utter disgust.

"Humans are crazy, how can they possibly eat something tinned?" Emmett remarked as I put some instant-noodles into the cart.

"We are crazy? Well, you are too, I mean, how can you possibly eat something that is still running?"

He chuckled and grinned down on me. "Oh, believe me, what I get between my teeth won't run anywhere anymore."

That sent chills down my spine, even though I expected an answer like that. Nevertheless, Edward punched his brother on the shoulder and glared at him.

"Hey, she asked!" Emmett said, but I could see him winking at me. I had to hide a grin or else Edward would start all over again with his speech of how I should not know some things and so on.  
Again, Edward paid for the things I got.

When we were sitting in his car on our drive home, two questions came into my mind.

"What do you do when someone asks you why you don't eat?"

Edward smiled and took my hand in his strong hand. "They won't really notice. I mean, we are sitting each lunch break in the cafeteria and don't eat anything. In addition, we do that since some _years_ and now we will be on a trip as short as some _days_. Trust me, they won't notice."

I was still a bit concerned what the others would say _if_ they would find out, but I trusted them that they knew what they were doing.

"Ok, but another question." I could see Edward smirk. "What about the sun? I mean, it's not like it will be raining the whole weekend, will it?"

Alice leaned forward so that her pixilike face was directly between Edward and me. "Listen to the best weathermen possible: The sun won't shine, there will be plenty of clouds around and sometimes it will be raining a bit." She grinned in my direction.

"Ok, if you say so, it will be that way." I really forgot about the fact that Alice could not only see decisions but also weather changes.

In that moment, Edward pulled up into our driveway and was on my side in a flash.

"Bye Alice, bye Emmett! Have a nice night!" I called over my shoulder as Edward and I went to the front door of Charlie's house. Edward already took the things we bought out of the trunk of the car and put them down on the stairs.

"Thank you, Edward." I snuggled myself close to him and he held me in an embrace.

He raised one brow. "For what, my love?"

"Today. If we let out that _event_ at school, it was a really good day." I smirked a bit as I remembered how he tricked me into giving him my card.

"I'm happy you had fun." With that, he brushed his lips against mine and gave me a long kiss – but this time, he didn't push at the boundaries. It was ok, though. I knew I was tempting him every minute and sometimes less was more.

This time, I broke the kiss. A thought shot into my head. "Oh!"

A bit surprised, Edward looked down at me. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

I let out a chuckle. "No, no, everything's fine, but what about my truck? It's still at school!"

"Don't worry about that. I'll pick it up after I brought my Volvo to my home. Your credit card wasn't the only thing I took from your wallet…" He smiled his crooked smile and winked at me.

"About that card…"

"No, forget it. You won't see it for quite some time."

"But Edward, I –"

He smirked down at me. "You thought about robbing me and my sister, did you forget?"

I heaved a heavy sigh. "Ok, ok, ok. Keep it for some days but promise me to give it back, ok?"

"Ok." With that, he gave me a last kiss and went out of the door. "I'll see you in an hour, Bella!"

I leaned on the doorframe and watched as my own, personal god seated himself in his car and pulled away. "See you later, Edward."

* * *

AN: Ok, now this was really pretty much longer than I thought it would be. o.O° Anyway (you can already tell that "anyway" is one of my favourite words, can't you?), what do you think about the empty spaces in the dialogues? Does it make reading easier? I got a review where I was told that it is sometimes hard to read when I write the dialogues without empty spaces between the lines... Would be nice to know :) Please review what you think about the chapter, I'd be very happy if you'd do that I think, the next chapter will be about the arriving on the camping ground, but maybe I can't update tomorrow / I have pretty much to do for university .. But I don't think it will take longer than one or two days to update :)!

Thanks for reading


	6. Chapter six Departure

AN: Well, at this time, I should have been sitting in _British and American History_ at university but I was just too bored and skipped that class today. Lucky for you, so I have more time to write ;) Thanks for all the reviews I got so far, you are great!  
One very important question: Can you give me synonyms for "Already"? I can't find any TT!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon.

* * *

Chapter six – ArrivalI closed the door and went upstairs in my room to put my new things away. The tinned food could wait at the bottom of the stairs, it didn't need cooling and that way, I could just pick it up tomorrow without having to search all over the place for it. 

I looked at the clock on my nigh stand. It was already six, so Charlie would be home any minute now. I went to the window of my small room and opened it. Edward didn't need an open window to sneak into my room – I don't know how he can do it but he even comes in when the window is locked – but I just wanted to show him that I'd be waiting for him.

As I leaned out of the window, I saw Charlie's Cruiser pull into our driveway. It was time to get dinner ready.

"Hey, Bells." He greeted as he entered our home.

I was already tripping down the stairs and my hand clung tightly on the handrail so I did not fall completely. In my opinion, Charlie was in the urgent need of a new stairway. This one was hazardous.

"Hey, Dad. What do you want for dinner?" Let me guess: Fish?  
"How about some fish, Bells?"

I grinned as I walked past him into the kitchen. Sometimes, Charlie was just so… predictable.

"Yeah, sure dad. Do you have something special in your mind or should I look something up in one of my books?" In the last few months, I collected a vast array of cooking books with only one topic: Fish.

Dad was already on his way to the TV. "Oh, nothing special, no. Please just look something up, but don't make a big thing out of it, ok? Some of the recipes in your newest book look promising!"

My newest book. Oh, great. I knew it was a failure to get that book.

_--  
I bought it about a week ago. It was__ the first time that Emmett had went with me to the mall. I had had to get some things for dinner and in the bookstore was a new cooking book waiting for me. Dad had ordered it and I had to pick it up. Edward and Alice had had to go hunting that day and my beloved and quite overprotective vampire did not want me to go to the mall alone. Anyway, Emmett had been certain that it would be a great fun to watch me '_hunt'_, so he volunteered to watch after me. To be honest, it had been really funny to go shopping with him. _

_After we had left the store and were on our way back to his monstrous Jeep, he had asked: __"Can I have a look?"_

"_Sure. But it's only about fish, just so you know what awaits you." _

"_Ah, your dad told you to get it, right?"_

"_Yes, you are right." With that, I had handed the book to him._

_He had browsed through the book and suddenly, he had stopped dead in his tracks with a disgusted look on his face._

"_Bella? Now I know that you humans _really_ lost your minds. It's a good thing I'll never have to be human again."_

_I had chuckled and went next to him to look what he found in the book._

"_Emmett, it can't be that disgusting, it's only fish!"_

_He looked at me, one brow raised and offered the still open book to me. "Look and please tell me that _this_ recipe is a _joke_."_

_I had looked him straight in the eyes with a slight puzzled look on my face and then looked down in the book._

_Yes, I could understand what Emmett had meant. That recipe was about how to make some kind of fish-slime. Yes, _fish_-_slime_. Take a fish, put it in some kind of shredder and then you get your own, tasty fish-slime. "That's… _disgusting_." My voice wasn't much more than a whisper but nevertheless, Emmett was able to hear me. _

"_Yeah. Maybe you should rip that page __apart and burn it? I mean, that way you can make quite everything disappear…"_

"_Emmett!" I scolded him with a glare. He had just grinned back and ruffled my hair.  
--  
_

Since that moment, the newest addition to my cooking book collection was called "How to cook fish-slime."  
Gratefully, Charlie had not yet been able to have a look on all the recipes in the book, so maybe I'd be spared to try that fish-slime stuff.  
But anyway. In the meantime while I was lost in thoughts I already picked out a simple recipe. I already had all the ingredients in the fridge so I could start right away.

After dinner was finished, Charlie was still sitting at the table while I drowned our plates in the sink.

"Tomorrow you'll be going on that trip, right?"

"Yes, dad."

"I just wanted to tell you… well… to be careful, ok? I mean, there are several boys with you and –"  
I spun around and looked him straight in the eyes with a glare. "Dad!"

"Nah, sorry, Bells, but I am your father, I _have_ to say something like that. Just promise me to be careful and lock the room to your cabin at night, ok?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes dad, I will be careful but I can't promise the other thing – I mean, I'm not the only one sleeping in that cabin."

"Ok, Bells. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"No, I don't think so. We will be departing right after school. I'll just be here for a short time so I can pick up the things I need for the trip."

"Oh. Well then… Good night Bells and have a fun weekend." With that, he hugged me and went to the living room, leaving me stunned. He rarely hugs me.

I looked at the clock in the kitchen and saw, that it was already quarter past seven. Edward was most likely already waiting for me in my room. I finished my tasks in the kitchen and went upstairs.

As I closed the door behind me, my eyes drifted to my bed where Edward was already lying. His arms crossed behind his head, his whole body relaxed.

I sat down and looked into his angelic face. His eyes were closed and a smile played along his lips. If I didn't know better, I would say he was sleeping. I leaned towards him, carefully stroking his jaw-line with my right hand. Edward let out a small moan and slowly opened his eyes.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you, too, Edward." I let my hand stroke form his chin down the side of the neck and he closed his eyes again, sighing. I never really had my fingers on his neck before and now I wondered why. It felt so… good somehow.

"Your dad really believes that a locked door would keep me away from you, doesn't he?" He asked as my fingers reached his shoulder. I let out a chuckle.

"Yes, I think, he believes that."

He pulled me close to him and held me in a tight embrace.

"You should take your human minute if you think you need it. I think, you'll fall asleep in my arms if you are lying there only a few minutes longer." Edward had a wonderful smile on his lips and his eyes were twinkling.

I did as I was told ( I really did not want to sleep in my everyday clothes) and after my human minute, I was again snuggled close against Edward.  
He let out a quiet laugh. "Well, that was a really _short_ human moment."

"Would you have been happier if I'd take an eternity in there?"

I reached for the light switch and turned off the light. Now, the only light in the room was coming from the moon which was shining through my window and wherever it's light fell on Edward, he was kind of glowing a bit. As I turned back to Edward, he had an expression on his face I did not understand. He looked… serious but also a bit amused.

"What?" I asked.

He cupped my face in his strong hands and pulled his face down to mine until our lips were only half an inch away from each other's.

"You'll spend your eternity with _me_, not with a _bathroom_, Bella. I wouldn't allow that." With those words, he pressed his lips passionately against mine and by doing that, he almost successfully kept my mind from thinking about what he told me.

Almost.

I smiled in our kiss as I realized what he just told me but that didn't break the kiss. In fact, it became even more passionate and soon, I invited him once more to explore the part behind my lips. Now it was his turn to smile. I could hear him whisper "Junky" and felt the tip of his tongue grace over my lower row of teeth and poke against my own tongue.

Oh, if this taste would be sold in candy bags, I'd rob the factory.

I think Edward seemed to guess my train of thoughts. He ended our kiss and propped himself up on his elbows. Somehow – and I don't know how or even _when _it had happened – I was lying beneath him. I blushed as I realised that but tried to lick the remaining venom from my lips without him noticing.

Of course, he noticed.

He bit his lower lip and his eyes had an amused glint in them.

"Just as I said. Junky."

I grinned back. "So what?"

He let his lips brush against mine once more and said: "But please be careful and don't bite yourself - not your tongue, not your lips. That would be… unpleasant."

"I promise to try." I whispered.

A few minutes later, he said: "Time to sleep, my love. I think, you won't get much of that during the trip, so it's better to have some more before it starts."

"Nice try, Edward, but I still haven't done my homework." And besides, I did not want to go to bed right now. It was barely nine o'clock.

I wanted to get up from the bed, but he just pinned me down with one of his strong hands.

"I'll do you a favour for once. You're going to be good and sleep now and I'll promise that your homework will be finished before school."

I couldn't help it; I knew my eyes began to sparkle. Did he really just offer to do my homework?

"Don't get too excited about that, Bella: that was a nonrecurring offer."

I tried to glare at him but failed miserably because I was still too happy about his offer.

"Ok, I'll seize that chance. Thank you, Edward."

He shook his head. "I love you, Bella."

"I love you too, Edward."

I snuggled under my blankets and close to him while closing my eyes. This day had been more exhausting than I had known and now, I was drifting into a peaceful sleep while my angel was watching over me and humming my lullaby.

"Bella, wake up, you'll have to get ready." I heard my favourite voice call me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and had to blink several times to adjust to the brightness which was flooding through the window into my room.  
I stretched and let out a sigh. Today was the first day of our camping trip.

"Good morning, Edward."

"Good morning, love." I felt his lips brush against mine and opened my already closed-again eyes.

"Get ready for school. Don't worry about the things you'll have to take with you, there is plenty of time to pack before we will have to drive to Newton's."

"Plenty of time? That would be an hour, that's not really much time to pack all the things."

He let out a low chuckle. "Yes, but remember: I have the speed of a vampire and trust me, I'm really fast when it comes to packing things together. That is something everyone learns after several decades." He winked at me and I had to smile. Yes, vampire speed could come in handy for that.

"I'll go get my car, be safe in the bathroom, love."

"I'll be. See you soon!"

As soon as I had said those words, Edward vanished into thin air. Well, most likely more something like '_through my window_' but he was just too fast for me to actually see that. I'll never get used to it.

I got my things and went into the bathroom.

When I went out of Charlie's house, Edward was already waiting for me. On the drive to school, he told me that he had already packed all the things he needed and that way, we would only have to pick up my things after school. Alice had her things packed, too and was practically bouncing the whole way to school – since we three were the only ones that were going to school, she drove quite every day together with Edward and me.

School went by fast. Edward had kept his promise and all my homework was done – he even faked my handwriting. I had to smile about that. To think that Edward, whose handwriting was just a piece of wonderful art would have to scribble the words and letters as boring as I do, made me smile.

Our whole camping-trip-group met at the parking lot after school.

"Ok, we'll meet at our store in one hour. Please don't be late and have a full tank, the drive will probably take about three hours and I don't really want to have to have a stop." As Mike was ranting, I could not shake off the feeling that he was talking only to Edward. But he just smiled and let his hand snake around my waist. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the envious look on Jessica's face but decided to ignore it. She was still jealous about Edward and me, that was clear.

"Any questions left?" Mike asked.

As nobody seemed to answer, he just turned around and walked to his car – Jessica right by his side. Sometimes I'm really confused: They are together but I _know_ that Mike is still after me and Jessica still after Edward. Well, hopefully their behaviour will change after this weekend and they will understand that Edward and I won't brake up during the next eternity. It felt really good to think that word…

"Come on, let's go. We still have to pack your things, Bella." Alice was again bouncing because of excitement. It made me smile. I think, this was her first _real_ camping trip, again something she had never had as a human. Edward confirmed my thoughts with a slight nod that Alice couldn't see since she was already on her way to Edward's Volvo.

"You seem to be able to read my mind lately." I whispered as we made our way to the car.

He let out a low chuckle. "As much as I try, I really can't Bella. But sometimes, what you think is written all over your face." He was holding my hand now and gave it a little squeeze.

Shortly after our 'meeting', we arrived at Charlie's house. Alice was already on the porch as I stepped out of the car. It was a good thing that our house was slightly remote and that there were no direct neighbours around. I wonder what they would think if they'd see what happens at our house all the time… A werewolf standing in the backyard, several vampires bouncing on our porch or climbing up the tree next to my window,… Yeah, they would really have a hard time believing what they'd see.

"Come on Bella, don't be a slug!" Alice was already standing in my room shortly after I had opened the front door. I knew that she was standing there because I knew how the doors of my closet sound when they are opened and closed. I had a smile on my lips. Hopefully, she took the normal things out of it, I had no intention to have any unpractical clothing articles with me. She already told me the weather would be rainy, cloudy and kind of foggy, so there was no need for any especially nice clothing.

As I was standing in the doorframe of my room, I watched Alice getting all the things she thought I would need.

"Do you need any help, Alice?" I asked with a smirk on my face. The bag on my bed was already half packed.

"Ah…. No, but thanks for asking, Bella. Anyway, you could get your things for the bathroom. I'm not sure what you need in there." The whole time she spoke, she didn't stop moving things out of my closet into the bag.

I blushed a bit as I imagined how Alice would look through my more… personal belongings for the bathroom. I really envied her for not having to deal with certain female problem anymore. But hopefully soon, I wouldn't have to, either.

I moved to the bathroom, took a small bag for the things I thought I'd need out and started packing. I had the bathroom door open so I could hear Edward down the stairs in the kitchen. I think, he was gathering some of the things my dad had already put away.

Half an hour later, we were gathered at the bottom of the stairs, all my bags – three to count – standing at my feet.

"Thanks for your help." I gave Edward and Alice a small smile. It would have taken hours for me to get everything together.

"No problem, Bella. But believe me, we will have to go shopping again – and soon. You have nothing to wear if it gets colder!" I frowned a little but knew that I could not say 'no' to Alice. I liked seeing her happy and although I'd never admit it, shopping with her was quite fun – as long as it didn't take hours without end.

We went out of the house and I closed the door behind me. Alice and Edward had my bags in their hands, what made me a little uncomfortable. "I can carry those, too, just so you know."

They did not answer but grinned as I walked two steps forward and promptly tripped. Holding one of the bags in one hand, Edward caught me with his other hand before I fell on the ground.

"Maybe I should carry you, too." He said as he smirked down in my face.

"No, thank you, I'm totally capable of walking myself."  
"Yes, we saw that." Alice's high laughter rang through the air.

Just when we were two steps away from Edward's car, something dawned on me.

"Ehm, do we have to pick Emmett up at your house?" Edward and Alice looked at me with slight amusement written all over their faces.

That was, when I could feel two strong arms around my waist from behind me and the next thing I knew, I was laying over Emmett's shoulder, who was laughing uncontrollably. I was so shocked, my heart started to race and I held onto Emmett for my dear life. Before I could stop it, a squeak escaped my lips. That made him only laugh harder.

"Emmett, let my girl down, _now_!" Edward was playfully growling at his brother. He, just like Alice and Emmett, had an amused grin on his face. Well, I couldn't see Emmett grin, but I was sure he did.

"Nah, ok. I couldn't brace myself, it was just too tempting." My big, bear like, hopefully-soon-brother laughed, but he let my down.

As soon as I was standing on my own feet, I sent Emmett a glare. Well, in fact, I tried to, but as usual, I failed. I went to Edward, put my arms around his waist and looked deep into his eyes.

"Edward?" I asked while faking hurt into my voice.

He played along. "What is it, my love?"

"Hit Emmett." Edward bit grinning on his lower lip, looked at a stunned Emmett and then down again in my eyes.

"Why?"

"Because he was mean to me and if I'll do it on my own, I'll most likely break a bone."

That made the three vampires around me laugh. I smiled a heart-melting smile towards Edward – at least that was what I was trying to do. He was way better than me in doing that.  
My beloved vampire looked up to Emmett once again with a wide grin.

I could see Emmett gulp once. "You _won't_."

Well, Edward would. The next thing I saw was that Edward was pinning Emmett on the ground in our front yard. Playfully, he punched him on his chest once. I was sure Emmett would be stronger than Edward and if he really wanted to, he could pin Edward to the ground easily, but he played along and I had to smile.

"Ouch, that hurt." He made a great deal of looking as if he was close to crying, while Edward couldn't contain his laugher anymore and fell to his side, letting Emmett free.

"You scared my girlfriend and she asked me to punch you, so you deserved it." Would my beloved Edward need air, I was sure that he would be suffocating right now.

"Yeah, sure. If she'd demand that you jump off a cliff, would you?" Emmett retorted, now laughing himself.

Edward propped himself up on his elbows and eyed his brother with an amused glint in his eyes. "I most likely would, yes."

Right the next moment, I felt his strong arms around my waist and was pushed against his chest. Sometimes it was really hard to believe that they were in fact as old as my grandparents or even grand-grand parents would be and not as old as normal teenage boys.

"Hey, guys, come on, we are going to be late!" Alice was already sitting in the backseat and waiting for us. I looked at my watch. We had ten minutes left before being late, more than enough time for Edward to get to Newton's.

Anyway, Edward held the passenger's seat door open for me, waiting me to get it.

"Nit this time, Edward. Emmett has longer legs than me; I think it would become quite uncomfortable for him to have to sit in the backseat. I'll join Alice in the back.

"Yay!" Alice was clearly happy about my decision and Emmett sent me a thankful smile.

Edward wasn't as happy as his siblings. "If you really want, Bella…"

"Yes, I want."

As soon as I was seated, Edward drove off to the store.

"Ah, the last ones…" Mike greeted us as we stepped out of the car. He was right, everybody else was already there.

"Sorry Mike, I had to pack some last things."

"Yeah, I thought something along those lines." A low growl from Edward, too low too hear for the other humans, told me that Mike was in fact thinking about other things.

"Ok, since we are now all gathered, we can start. I'll drive with Eric, Jessica and Angela in the front, just drive behind me and I'll lead you to our destination. Lauren and Tyler will be in the middle and Cullen, you'll drive at the back." Oh, I _knew_ Edward would hate him for that, but he just nodded and then, everybody went to their cars to get started. Edward was really good in hiding what he thought – but just as he said _I_ was easy to read, he was too, sometimes.

Mike pulled off the parking lot first, Tyler right behind him and Edward in the back, just as told. Edward's face was like stone. If looks could kill, Mike would be so _very_ dead right now.

Alice and I were talking about school and how I was doing in the tests for the first hour. Of course, she had straight As, while I had several problems in math and (naturally) gym. She offered me to help me with math, because she knew I was utterly hopeless in gym.

I was really shocked as I heard Edward bang his right hand at the steering wheel. "Does he have to drive like a slug? We will never arrive there when he won't speed up!"

Alice and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Edward, just dad told me just yesterday that you are a very reasonable driver, so just be one for once, ok? I'm sure we will arrive there in time." I tried to remember the last time he drove in the speed limits but couldn't find anything. This was torture for him, I was sure of that. He knew he wasn't allowed to pass Tyler's or Mike's cars, so he had to drive the speed they drove.

"Ah, he finally had a look into my file, hadn't he? I was waiting for that to happen." He chuckled.

"Yes, he did. He was… pleasantly surprised that you don't drive _as fast_ as most other boys _your age_ do."

I could see his wide grin in the driving mirror. "That's because I'm able to drive much faster than those human kids could ever do."

"Hey! Just remember that those _kids_ are just as old as _me_ and drive as fast as _I_ do, ok?" I said a little hurt. I refused to be called a _kid_. Especially from Edward, although he would have the right to call me that since he was about 90 years older than me.

The three vampires in the car burst out laughing.

"Yes, I remember that, Bella. Why do you mean won't I allow you to ride when _I_ could be sitting behind the steering wheel? And for your information: You are much more mature than those humans in front of us." I could see him smile and wink at me in the mirror. I already accepted the fact that he would never let me drive if he could do that. In fact, I was even a bit relieved because of that: I could not concentrate well while he was watching me the whole drive. I sighed and let him win this argument. I just couldn't be mad at him.

The rest of the drive went by fast. We were talking about several things but nothing in particular. Once, Emmett asked me I had some of that 'slimy stuff' with me. Only we both knew that he was talking about oat flakes and we had to laugh as we remembered our 'food hunt' when we both went shopping the day I bought the fish-slime-book. Alice and Edward just looked at us as if we lost our mind but we didn't tell them. Sometimes, inside-jokes were great – Emmett had promised me to never think about our discussion while Edward was present and as far as Edward's facial expression right now was concerned, he had held that promise.

Finally, we arrived at the camping ground. We got out of the car and I stretched my tensed muscles. As I looked around, I gasped. It was a really nice camping ground that was clear. I can't wait to let the adventure begin.

* * *

AN: Again, I did not plan to write such a long chapter. It's actually 00:37 in the morning right now and I wanted to go to bed around 22:00 yesterday. The chapter took about 5 hours to write, I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. Please tell me what you think about the chapter :) And one more thing: Do you thing the characters are too ooc? Would be nice to know :)! Thanks for reading!  
( Ah, and one more thing. I'm writing the slime-stuff-story, too. It'll be a short oneshot, though ;) I'll write it in the AN if it's ready to read!)  



	7. Chapter seven Afternoon

AN: Sorry to let you wait for the chapter for two days. The first day I didn't update, I wrote the One-shot about Emmett+Bella who were doing grocery shopping. I didn't plan it to take so much time to write but when I finished it, it was already 11pm -.- Considering my last chapters took about 4-5 hours (each), I really did not want to write another chapter. (I already uploaded the Oneshot, you can read it if you want)

And yesterday, I had to go to university, drive for about 2h to my home (I'm coming each weekend back to my family in my hometown) and then I was kidnapped by my sister who wanted to watch Pirates of the Carribean 3 XD Yay, that film rocks! (It started in Germany this week)

Anyway, now I've got the time to write on :) The next chapter will be the cause why I wrote this story… /very evil grin/ At first, I wanted it to be a oneshot and now look at what I did: May I present you to chapter 7 ;) ?

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or New Moon, I never will, but I own the idea of this fanfic :) That's more than nothing, isn't it?

* * *

**Chapter seven – Afternoon**

_Finally, we arrived at the camping ground. We got out of the car and I stretched my tensed muscles. As I looked around, I gasped. It was a really nice camping ground that was clear. I can't wait to let the adventure begin._

I took a few steps into the small clearing in the woods. Well, 'small' is a relative measurement. It was a lot bigger than Edward's and my meadow, but somehow, it still looked… comfy. There was a huge fireplace in the middle, surrounded by low benches made of logs. Some meters away, there were the small cabins.

Yes, it was a really good idea of Jasper to stay at home. If it were not for the fact that we were alone here, miles away from any civilisation, the small cabins would surely drive him insane. There couldn't be possibly more than a few beds and some closets in it.

I turned around a bit and recognized the two other cabins. One had no windows, I guessed that would be the bathroom-cabin. The other one at its right site had a few windows and benches and tables in front of it. That would surly be the kitchen-cabin.

All around the clearing was forest and I could hear some kind of river behind the trees. Some birds were chirping in mentioned trees.

Two strong and cold arms sneaked around my waist from behind. "You like it?"

"To be true, yes, I do. Until now, that is. I still have to see what the next days will bring…"

Edward shifted my hair to the side of my neck so he could kiss the warm skin under it. He moved his lips up and down my neck and while inhaling my scent he let out a low sigh.

I let out a chuckle. "Edward, I'm pretty sure that someone is watching us right now." The thought made me blush a little.

He brought his lips to my ear and whispered: "In fact, Mike and Tyler are watching. And to tell the truth, they don't like what they see. In fact, I don't like what they _think_, so maybe we are even now."

That made me a little curious.

"What are they thinking?" I asked in a very low voice.

He let his lips touch my earlap and I could feel a smile creep on his lips.

"Well, they are both thinking in the same direction. Tyler thinks, I'm looking like I want to bite you."

That sent a shiver down my spine. Edward chuckled and tightened his grip on my waist.

"And Mike?"

"Actual, his thoughts are quite amusing. He, too, thinks that I'm looking as if I'm going to bite you. But don't worry, they have no idea what I really am. They just think that I'm kind of... crazy." He let out a low chuckle and I could feel his cold breath flying past my ear. "The funny part is what he thinks that _if_ I would bite you…" He let one of his cold and slender fingers run down my neck with the slightest of pressure, "he would come here and fight me off."

I let out a laugh about that. I thought about the countless times I witnessed his inhuman strength. Mike would definitely have a hard fight if he would try – or a very short one, depending on Edward's mood.

"As if he could actually fight _you_ off." I whispered.

I felt his lips on my neck once more. He kissed the same spot as before, than grinned without any other comment. I could tell that he was thinking about what he could – and maybe even _would_ – do to poor Mike. 

Alice interrupted our moment of pure bliss. "Hey you two lovebirds! Earth to Bella and Edward, we need your help here! Do you know how heavy those stupid bags are?"

It was a good thing that Edward was holding me – I really needed his support as I clutched a hand over my mouth and began to shake with laugher. Yeah, poor Alice, the bags will surly weigh a _ton_ to her.

"Oh, stop laughing Bella, that's mean!" I bit on my lower lip to get back my composure.

"Don't bite too hard, love. We both don't want you to bleed, do you?" Edward whispered in my ear.

Most definitely, I did not want to. Just when Edward chose to forget about some boundaries, it was not the time to ruin that by bleeding.

Edward released his iron grip on my waist and took my hand in his. "Come on, lets help little Alice with the heavy bags." He winked at me and I had to smile. 

Mike and Tyler were unloading their car, while Angela and Jessica were already getting their things into the girl's cabin. Lauren and Eric were discussing something while standing in front of their opened trunk. I guessed, Lauren forgot to bring something with her, but I wasn't interested in her problems.

As Edward and I reached the car – Alice had parked it in the camping ground's parking lot while my beloved one and I were locked up in our own world – Emmett and Alice were unloading our things from the Volvo's trunk. They had more luggage than I thought they needed.

Alice held one strap of a very heavy looking bag and Edward took the second one. Emmett and I fetched a second bag, Emmett helping me carrying it while holding a third bag in his second hand. Together, we made our way to the girl's cabin. I had to smile a bit. Probably they could have been faster getting the things from the car to the cabin, but I realized that it would look kind of scary if small Alice would run around while carrying lots of heavy bags in her hands. Surprisingly, I didn't trip. 

As soon as we reached the cabin's front door, Alice came to a sudden stop when Edward laid his hand on the doorknob.

"Edward, what do you think you're doing?" She asked with a hint of accusation in her voice.

Edward looked a bit taken aback. "Well, I guess, I was going to help you carry your bags into this cabin?" His hand remained on the doorknob.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. Edward, this is a _girl's_ cabin. Do you know what that means?"

Poor Edward, he looked totally dumbfounded. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, we could hear Jessica and Angela shout from inside the cabin: "_Girls only_!"

Edward hold in a laugh and had a wide smirk on his face.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, ladies. It was not my intention to upset you." He let go of the bag's strap and held the door open so that Alice and I could go through. His eyes held a glint of humour, but he kept his eyes out of the interior of the cabin. Maybe he did that out of purpose. I could already see the chaos waiting inside for Alice and me. How could two girls make such a mess in such a short time?

Emmett and I put the bags we were holding on the ground, right next to the one Alice had carried together with Edward. I took a chance and peered to Emmett. He had a wide grin on his face while looking down at me. "Good luck in carrying _that_ yourself, Bella."

I shot Alice a pleading glance and she winked back at me.

Edward and Emmett stood in front of the door while Alice and I were carrying our bags into the small cabin, only one bag a time.

"Do you need help, Bella?" Edward asked me as I tripped my way to the last bag.

"No, I have to be capable of carrying a bag on my own, thank you."

I waited for Alice and together, we brought the bag into our home for the weekend. Sure enough, I tripped on the sill and Edward had to catch me.

"Thanks." I murmured and he smiled.

As I regained my balance, he took my hand and brought his lips down on the back of it. After a swift kiss, he gazed deep into my eyes and said: "Glad to be of service, my lady." I blushed furiously as I heard Jessica and Angela – and surprisingly Alice, too – deeply sigh.

"Aw, how cute…" Jessica tried to whisper but I was still able to understand what she said. That made my blush only deeper. Edward smiled one last time into my eyes, then he and Emmett went back to the Volvo to get their stuff out of its trunk.

Alice and I brought the last bag into the cabin and shut the door behind us. 

"Oh, Bella, do you have any idea of how lucky you are?" Jessica asked as I unpacked my bags. As I turned around to look at her, I had to take a deep breath. Her eyes were glazed over and the expression on her face told me, she was daydreaming about Edward. _My_ Edward. I did not need to be able to read thoughts to know that.

"Yes, I know how happy I am, Jess." Happier than you can believe.

She got a strange look in her eyes and I got a bit scared. Normally, when she gets this look, her next question was something nobody really wants to answer.

She put her hands on my shoulders. I got the feeling that she did not want me to run away. _Oh, no._

"Bella, tell me. How does it feel to kiss him?" Her eyes were sparkling and she bit down on her lower lip, she was full of excitement.

My cheeks turned beet red and I could hear a chuckle like a chime from behind me. Alice. Oh, no, please don't let me have this discussion in front of Edward's sister…

"Jess-"

"No, Bella, _please_ tell me. I _have_ to know." I highly doubted that but nothing was going to stop her now. I could tell from experience. "If his kisses are even half as good as he's looking – and we all know he's looking gorgeous – they must feel like heaven. Come on, tell me!"

Somebody rescue me…?

Alice sat down beside me, pushing me down to sit on the bed. Yes, Alice, you are my hero!

"Yes, Bella, tell us! I want to know, too!"

Did she really say that? I looked totally dumbfounded into her topaz eyes. Her face showed the same excitement as Jessica's.

_"Traitor_." I hissed while trying to glare at her.

Alice just laughed. "Oh, Bella, _I_ never kissed my brother. And to be honest, I really want to know how his kisses feel, too. Well, _I_ don't want to kiss him _myself_, but I'm curious!"

"Curiosity killed the cat." I murmured without much thinking.

"Talking from experience?" She asked and winked at me.

She was right, I was one to tell _her_ about curiosity. I mean, if I hadn't asked so many questions when I came to Forks and met Edward, maybe I wouldn't have had so many almost-deadly experiences. But for nothing in the world I would trade my life for a boring normal human life.

I chuckled a bit and Alice knew she had won the argument. 

"So?" Jessica was sitting in front of me on the floor, staring into my eyes. Even Angela was sitting next to her now, I could see curiosity on her face as well as on Alice's and Jessica's.

I took a deep breath. Ok, how to describe the indescribable?

"First of all, I have to confirm your opinion. He _is_ a good kisser." Oh, I _really _hoped he was not going to listen in on this conversation.

Jessica's face lit up, my cue to go on.

"It's hard to describe how it feels if he kisses me. _Really_ hard. I mean – and believe me, I'm not making that up – there is quite nothing comparable to that." I'm kissing a vampire, that could tell everything but they needn't know that.

"I can't compare to anything. But… Well, when he kisses me, it feels like… There are butterflies in my stomach – trust me, a _lot_ of those – and my knees go pudding. But somehow, it feels like as if a lightning crashes through my body at the same time our lips meet. That means, not a violent lightning, just something… I don't know, it's a feeling as if the whole world brakes apart and there's only the two of us."

"Now, _that_ explains a lot." Alice whispered with a smug grin plastered on her face as I took a deep breath.

I glared at her. "Alice, if you are going to tell him, I have to kill you."

She just chuckled and winked at me. "Nah, he won't hear a word from me. But go on!"

I sighed. Jessica didn't say a word the whole time, she practically hang on my lips.

"There's not much more to say, trust me. No word could do justice to the feelings his kisses sent through me."

"So good?" Jessica breathed in a very low voice.

As I thought about one of our latest kisses, I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "And even better." But there will be no way for her ever to find out.

"Wow…" That came from Angela. 

"Hey, girls, what's up?" Lauren came into the cabin with her bags. A _lot_ of bags. It looked like she was going on a two week holiday trip and not on a camping trip for three days. She heaved her biggest bag to the only left bed right under one of the windows. You had a nice view into the woods from that window, but somehow, I liked to have the bed in the corner of the room: On the one side was the wall and in the bed next to me, Alice set up her place for the night. I thought, at night it would become pretty boring in here… There wasn't much one could do in a room this small size.

Before Jessica could open her mouth and tell Lauren what we did before she came in, Angela took the chance to change the subject. "Ah, nothing Lauren, we were just talking. How was your drive with Tyler?"

Thank you, Angela. Of all the people in this girl's cabin, Lauren surly was the one I did not want to know what we have been talking about. Her glares still threw daggers in my direction. I wondered, how long a person could be jealous before she snaps?

Thankfully, Lauren took the chance to talk about herself.

"Wonderful!" Her face told otherwise. "We talked a lot about the current tests at school… He's doing pretty good, got the second best grade in the last trig test!"

I turned around and couldn't hide the grin spread on my face as I continued to unpack my bags. Tyler was in the same class as Edward but Lauren would never admit that Edward was better in something than her current boyfriend was. Well, I wasn't sure if Tyler was her boyfriend or not. They were going out sometimes but at other times, they did not even talk to each other for days. It was quit confusing.

She ranted on how they were doing – it seemed they were together again – and how her grades in school were. She only mentioned the grades that were better than mine. Sometimes, it was really hard to keep a nice attitude towards her. 

"Girls?" Eric's voice came through the front door. "Can I come in?" He was already pushing down the handle of the door but Angela was in front of the door in a flash, holding it shut.

"NO!" We yelled in unison and broke out in laughter.

"Uhm… Well… I just wanted to ask if you have any idea when we want to make dinner? We need to prepare for that, just so you know."

We looked at each other and then on the big clock above the door. It said, it was already half past six.

"We'll be out in a few minutes, don't worry!" Angela called through the closed door while holding it shut.

Somehow, we had an untold agreement: _No boys_. _Not _in the room and not even _looking _into the cabin. 

"We have to do something to keep the boys out." Jessica whispered conspiratorial.

"Hmm… how about a sign on the door?" Alice asked in a low voice matching Jessica's.

Lauren looked from Alice to Angela who was still holding the doorknob. "That would be a start…"

"But we have to think of something to do at night. I don't really want to have the boys sneak in here, do you?" Alice continued.  
I gave her a curious look. Did she see something?

"Yeah… Well, we got no key to the cabin. The owner said, the lock is broken and it can't be used. Maybe we could set up some… traps?" Angela asked. I never thought Angela would be the kind of girl who would think of setting up traps. But hey: I thought I wouldn't be the kind of girl who would have fun on a camping trip – and apparently, I had.

After a short silence, Alice cut in. "Good idea. I brought some bells and some balls of thread. We could make some kind of alarm system… I even think, there may still be some meter of rope in the trunk of Edward's Volvo…"

"That's great! But… one question: Why do you bring those things?" Asked Lauren.

Yes, Alice had obviously seen something. She was grinning like a maniac.

"Lauren, this is not my first camping trip. Trust me, boys are capable of many things – and most of them are just plain stupid. It's always good to have an alarm system while trying to sleep somewhere around them."

I had to grin. Now I was _sure_ she had seen something. But I wonder what…?

"Ok, it's set. I'll set up the alarm system tonight when we are back in the cabin. Otherwise, it would ruin the surprise if they are really going to try something. Back to that sign-topic again: Does anyone of you have a huge piece of paper? We need to write our message on something if we won't scratch it in the front door." Alice was in full commando-mode. She really had much fun in planning these things.

"I have one." Said Angela. A few seconds later, she got back from her bag, a big piece of firey red-coloured drawing paper in her one hand, a black marker in her other hand. "This should do the job, I think."

She put the paper and the marker in the floor where we all were sitting by now.

"Angela, you are a genius. But why do you have a red-coloured drawing paper in your bag?" I asked.

"Well, I already thought that this could come in handy… Maybe something like female intuition?" She gave a slight grin in the round and everybody else responded by grinning.

"Ok, what are we going to write on it?" Lauren asked.

A short silence followed as everybody tried to think of something. "Hmmm… Let me think. What about '_Keep out'_, then, in the next line, '_Girls only – boys beware'_?"

"That's great! Not very original, but it will surly do the job." Alice told while grinning like a madman.

It was settled and Jessica wrote in big black letters what we had just agreed on.  
When she was finished, she held the sign up so everyone could see it.

Alice had a indefinable look on her face and then she asked: "Can I have it for a second? I have an idea…"

"Sure." Jessica handed the marker and the paper to her.

In Alice's brilliant handwriting, she wrote in the downright corner of the paper: "_We will bite if it's needed_". I had to grin even wider than before.

"Great." I praised. 

Just in that moment, we heard a soft knock on our door. "I am very sorry to interrupt you, ladies, but we wanted to know if you are almost done with whatever you had to do. We seem to need some help to set up the fireplace." Edward's velvety voice called from outside. He was smart enough not to try to open the door. But maybe, he read it from our minds.

"Sure, we're finished!" I called.

Alice took some tape out of her bag and together, we went out of our cabin. Before Edward – or any other male being for that matter – could get a look into our cabin, Alice closed the door behind her. We needed to do something about our windows that was sure. Alice turned around after she left the cabin and taped the sign on the front door.

Edward looked a bit surprised because of the sign, but I could see a glint of humour in his eyes as I walked towards him. 

"Hey there." He said as he took me into an embrace. I could feel the stares of the other girls in my back but right now, it didn't matter.

"Hey." I snuggled myself a bit closer to him. It was colder outside than I thought and I knew it wouldn't help with the temperature if I was close to Edward, but somehow, I could forget about the temperatures while I was in his strong arms.

He lifted my chin with one finger and looked deep into my eyes before he gave me a kiss. Not a passionate, but nevertheless a breathtaking kiss.  
As he pulled away, he smirked a bit and I knew I looked completely dazed.

"Like lightning, hum?" He winked at me.

Oh, no, he did not really listen in on _that_ discussion, did he? But anyway, he already knew what his kisses could do to me – I mean, which other girl _faints_ sometimes when kissed by her boyfriend?

So I just grinned in return. "You nosy vampire." I winked.

"Of course I am."

He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead and together, we joined the others at the fireplace. 

"Ah, good to finally see you, girls." Mike said while gazing to our bright red sign on our door. "Anyway. We want to set up the fireplace but in order to do that, we need wood – obviously. So… Anyone who would volunteer in gathering it? Eric, Emmett, Edward and me are going, but we need a lot of wood if we don't want to go and gather more tomorrow."

Jessica volunteered and somehow, it didn't surprise me.

"Ok… Someone else? Don't worry, we don't bite."

I bit down hard on my lower lip so I would not burst out laughing. Emmett and Edward were both smirking while Alice had the same troubles as I had. But no one else volunteered to go into the woods, so Emmett, Edward, Eric, Mike and Jessica went on their on.

"Ok, let's set up the fireplace! Do you girls need any blankets or something like that? In the kitchen-cabin are some spare blankets to sit on, we could get those… And we need some stuff to eat. I hope, you brought your tins?"

Tyler was clearly happy to play some kind of '_leader'_ for us poor, helpless and inexperienced girls, but no one said anything against him. We got the blankets, together with some pots out of the kitchen-cabin and brought them to the fireplace. After that, we went back to our own cabin to get our food.

"Alice? What do you do about the _'food question_'?" I asked her as nobody else could hear us.

"Don't worry, Bella. I'll just say I ate while we were driving and that I'm still full. And to be honest: With all those smells from that tinned food, even a vampire won't get the biggest appetite…" With that, she winked at me and I had to smile. I wonder how that stuff smells to a vampire?

When we got all the things we needed, we took our places on the low benches and waited for the others to return. 

It didn't take long until the first ones were back. Jessica had a quite small amount of wood in her arms, Eric had some more and Emmett… Well, Emmett had enough wood for one night in his arms. Alice and I let out a laugh as we saw the three coming towards us: Jessica was looking perfectly content, while Eric already struggled with the amount of wood in his arms, while Emmett just grinned from ear to ear. I was pretty sure he had used his vampire speed to gather so much wood in such a short time.

Emmett and Tyler set the wood in the low pit, where still the ashes of the last visitor's fire remained.

What did Edward take so long? If Emmett was able to get so much wood in a short time, Edward would be able gather as much in the same time as well, wouldn't he? I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach and Emmett saw me fidgeting with one side of the blanket laying beneath me. 

He came to my side and sat down. "Bella, don't worry about Edward. I'm sure he has an excuse to let you wait." He said in a very low voice so only I – and probably Alice – could hear him.

"Yes, I know, Emmett. But what if…" I had to voice my fears, even if Emmett would laugh about that. "What about Mike? If he got… into trouble?" I whispered while looking down to my shoes.

I could see a surprised expression cross Emmett's face out of the corner of my eye but a heartbeat later he was smiling a very warm smile down on me. "Bella, don't worry. If Mike got into '_trouble'_, trust me, I would be able to smell it. At this time, in a radius of two miles, I can't smell any human bleeding. But why do you have the opinion that Edward couldn't stop himself?"

I had to think about that for a short time. "Don't get me wrong, Emmett. I really trust Edward with everything, but he doesn't like Mike only one bit and the way he's growling while Mike is around me…"

Emmett put a brotherly hand on my shoulder. "Bella, Edward is strong. I don't only mean physically but also mentally. If he'd kill everyone he doesn't like, there wouldn't be many people running around in Forks, trust me. Furthermore, if he can resist _you_, he can resist killing that _boy_, too."

I had to smile. Emmett was right – of course he was. I felt stupid that I didn't have enough trust in Edward. What would he think of me if he gets to know that?

Emmett looked at me with a sceptical look and took me into a brotherly hug. "Sometimes it's hard to have a vampire as a boyfriend, isn't it?" He whispered.

"Only if he does something stupid." I smiled a small smile and after Emmett hugged me once more, he released me and looked at me with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Believe me, Bella, Edward knows about your troubles when it comes to Mike. Don't be too hard on yourself thinking that you don't trust my brother."

I gave him a warm smile. In that moment, I made the promise to myself that I would talk to Edward about my fears. Maybe he would get angry with me, but that's way better than to have him get the information from Emmett's mind. 

"Everything ok, Bella?" Asked Angela. She was standing some meters away and looked a bit worried.

"Yeah, everything's fine, she's just a bit homesick." Emmett answered instead of me. As I looked at him, he winked. "She hasn't heard anything." He whispered so low that only I could hear it.

"Oh. Bella, if anything's wrong, just come and tell me. My brother is homesick quite often when my family and I are on holidays, I know how that feels."

I gave her a warm smile. Angela was a real friend and Emmett was great in thinking up excuses why I looked a bit worn out – I did not need a mirror to know how I looked. 

Right in that moment, some bushes behind us began to rustle. As I turned around, I saw Edward with a huge and even quite evil grin walking towards us. His arms were full of wood, so I was sure that we wouldn't have to wait for the wood to be gathered tomorrow. There was still plenty of wood piled up in the near of the fireplace because of Emmett.

Before I could wonder why Edward was looking that way, a second rustle came from the same woods and Mike stepped out. There were plenty leaves in his hair and his trousers looked quite muddy. He had way less wood in his arms than my beloved one and was staring daggers at Edward from behind. If looks could kill, Edward would drop dead.

Edward walked past me with a wink of his eye and put his wood down next to the pile of wood for tomorrow, followed by Mike.  
When Edward sat down right besides me, he was still smirking slightly.  
Alice took a lighter and together with the help of Eric – help she did not really need – and some other things, the fire was fast inflamed. 

"Edward?" I asked as he laid one of his arms around my shoulders and pulled me nearer.

He looked down into my eyes as if he was already expecting the upcoming question. "Hm?"

"Why are you grinning like a madman and Mike looking as if he wants to kill you?"

Edward flashed his white teeth in a grin. "Because he wanted to show you girls that he can do better than I. He wanted to show that he's better than me in gathering wood – apparently, he isn't."

I had to grin myself. That was Mike: Always trying to be better than Edward. But to be honest: Who could win against a vampire?

* * *

I have to think a bit more about the next chapter, maybe I won't update tomorrow. I won't promise to update tomorrow but maybe, if I get a stroke of genius this night, I'll be able to do that :) Please tell me, what you think of the chapter and thank you very much for all your reviews )!  
(And don't forget: There's that one-shot waiting for you, too... ;) ) 


	8. Chapter eight Scary Story

AN: Ok, so I got that stupid idea for the next chapter but before I'm going to write that, I'll have to write this one . I can't write chapters out of line, sometimes that's plain and simple stupid -.-

Anyway. On with this chapter, which was my main cause why I'm writing this story. To be honest: I turned out to be completely different from what I had in my mind. I realized that in my original version, Bella was _so_ out of character, that it hurt to write the things she said. So I settled with this version. It's not really better, to say the truth. I know that Edward is quite ooc in this one… /sighs/

I promise the next chapter will be better…

Disclaimer: Hasn't changed yet. I still don't own Twilight and New Moon but the idea for this fanfic is my own :)

* * *

**Chapter eight – Scary Story**

I snuggled myself closer to Edward as he draped the blanket around my shoulders. The sun had already set so the only light was coming from the fire in front of us. Right in front of it, it was really warm, although the dancing flames made me a bit dizzy.

My noodles with tomato-sauce were already cooking above the flames, just like all the other things the others brought with them. Edward stirred the noodles in the pot for me – he said, I would just burn myself by getting too near to the flames. Well, he was right. The one time I tried it, it _was_ pretty hot. Anyway, he didn't say anything, only giving me the '_I told you so'_ look.

"Enjoy your meal!" Angela announced. She had something that looked like it couldn't decide whether to become a soup or a stew. Nevertheless, she seemed to enjoy it.

Shortly after, everyone had his meal sitting in front of him. I had to chuckle about this thought although somehow, I knew it wasn't a really funny one. Stupidly, that chuckle turned to a full-grown fit of laughter. Everybody was staring at me as if I was going crazy but I just couldn't stop myself anymore. Suddenly, I felt the log disappear from under me and I landed behind it on the floor.

"Bella? Is everything ok?" Edward asked me with a confused look on his face while I was still laughing.

I wasn't able to do much more than nod my head. The least thing I wanted to happen was that Edward got to know what I was laughing about. In the meantime, tears had formed in my eyes and were now sliding down my cheeks.  
I felt him right behind me, embracing me in a tight hug. As I looked around, most of my friends had begun to chuckle, too.

"Bella, what's going on?" Emmett asked with glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Nothing" I said as I got the time to take in some air. "Give me a moment, please."

Edward pushed my back on his chest so I was in a sitting position again. Still, he held his arms tightly around my waist.  
As my laugher subsided and I was finally able to breathe again, I was only chuckling. I couldn't recall when the last time has been that I had such a full-grown fit of laugher about nothing in particular.

"Are you fine again?" Emmett asked with a huge grin on his face.

"Yes, I think so. Now, _that_ was creepy…" I answered with a slight smirk on my face.

Edward chuckled from behind me. "I never saw you laughing so hard. What have you been thinking about?" He whispered into my ear so that nobody else could hear him.

I tried to struggle out of his arms so I could sit on my log again but to no avail.

"Nothing special, that's why I think that it was creepy."

I did not have to see Edward's face to know. I was positive that he was trying to read my thoughts in this moment – just to be disappointed again that he can't. I had to smile about that and once more, I was happy that I was the one whose mind was closed to him.

"So… since we are all a bit calmer now – and since the sun has already set – what about our plan about the scary stories?" Mike asked as I was again sitting on my log. Even my uncontrollable chuckling was subsiding now.

"Scary stories?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. Ah, sorry, I think, I forgot to tell you. We planned on having a scary story contest this night. Just to know who can tell the best story." Mike explained.

"Yes, and the goal is to keep us up all night." Eric murmured. He didn't seem happy with that.

Mike shoved his friend from his log. "What's wrong with that, Eric? Come on, who's going to start?" He had an evil glint in his eyes. I think, now was the time that Mike wanted to show that he could tell a better story than Edward. I raised an eyebrow about that thought.

Alice, Emmett and Edward looked at Mike with a slightly bored expression on their faces. I thought that could have two causes: The first one was that nothing could scare a vampire. First of all no scary stories. The second cause could be that they already knew who would win the contest: A human with a complete made-up story or a vampire with a slightly true one. That last thought sent chills down my spine.

"Hmm… Mike, since you are so eager to start that '_contest'_, I'm sure you've got a pretty good story to tell. Why don't you start it then?" Alice encouraged him.

Mike looked into each other's face to know if we all were ok with that. Apparently, we were. He took a deep breath and glared into Edward's eyes. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Edward was struggling to hide a grin off his face. I snuggled myself against his shoulder and he put his arm in a protective manner around my waist, holding me close to him. Was he afraid that I would be scared of what Mike would tell us?

Mike started his story and everybody else went silent. "A few years ago, when I was still a small child, I was on a camping trip just like this but only with my family. The place wasn't very far away from here, to be true."

"Well, on one day of our trip, we were listening to the radio. The newscaster told that there has been a prison break out and there was a killer running around freely. All tries to catch him were in vain. Furthermore, the newscaster warned that if we would see a man with a hook instead of his right hand, we should call the police and get away as fast as possible. The man with the hook would be the killer."

As I looked around, I could see that Lauren was held tightly by Tyler – she was already looking as if she was scared. Jess had her fingers entwined with Mike's.

"Well, my parents thought it would be best if we would leave immediately. We packed our things but when we tried to start the engine of the car, it did nothing. My dad called the towing service and they told him, they would be there as soon as possible but it would take maybe two hours. Our camping ground was pretty far away from any civilisation."

I could hear Lauren whisper: "Just like now…"

Mike was in a very good mood since he could see that now most of us had some kind of Goosebumps – that is: Everyone except the vampires and me. It was just plain funny to look at their facial expressions and I wasn't scared a bit. Somehow, as Mike saw that, he frowned a bit.

"Well, almost half an hour after my dad called the towing service, a new car arrived on the camping ground. It was completely scratched. My mom held me tight next to her, we didn't know what we should think about that new car. It came to a sudden stop and as the driver and his girlfriend saw us, they stormed out of the car towards us. Both of them were crying, I was really frightened. As soon as they had calmed down, my dad asked them what happened and why they were so upset."

Once more, Mike took a look on the faces of his listeners. Nobody said a word. If I wouldn't live the life I live, would I be so easily scared, too?

"They told us, they met a man in the woods, several miles away from the camping ground. They wanted some time alone, so they chose a very vacant place. The moment they arrived, they already felt it wasn't as vacant as they thought. As soon as they had stopped the engine, they could hear the bushes behind the car rustling."

"They turned around in their seats and as they looked out of the back window, they could see the face of a man who was crouching on their trunk towards them. In their opinion, it looked like the man wanted to come right through the window. The driver of the car tried to start the engine again but the engine wouldn't come to live again. They could hear the man now right above them on the roof of the car. They could hear the terrible noise his hook was making on the metal."

"Somehow, the driver of the car managed to let the engine come to life – he said, it felt like a miracle. They were driving off as fast as they could, not really minding where they drove. Finally, they reached the camping ground where we were staying."

"The young woman was broken down by then and was crying and sobbing terribly. My dad looked from her to the young man in front of us and eventually took a closer look to the scratched car. He gasped and out of curiosity, I looked what my dad was looking at. There, firmly attached to one side of the roof of the car, was a bloody hook."

By this time, Lauren was almost sitting behind Tyler, firmly holding his hand. She was really scared, it seemed. But the others were not better: eyes white and faces pale, they looked at Mike as if they saw a ghost. I looked up into Edward's topaz eyes and he gazed down into my own while tightening his grip on my waist. He winked at me, all the while trying to hide a grin. I think the thoughts of the other's would be quite funny by now, measured by the looks on their faces.

"What happened then?" Angela asked.

"Well, nothing special. As you can all see, I'm still alive – so the killer didn't get us. Ten minutes after the other car had arrived, the towing service arrived, too. Half an hour later, we were on hour way back home. But nobody heard ever again from the killer with the hook." He told with a smug smile on his face.

Edward leaned down and nuzzled his lips to the soft spot under my ear. I closed my eyes, the feeling of his cold lips on my warm skin was indescribable.  
In a whisper no one else could hear, he said: "That was completely made up. Humans are so easily scared…"

I smiled and whispered in a voice almost matching his low tone "Yes, we are. But I think you could do better than Mike…"

I could feel his lips form a large smile on my skin. "I think so, too… Although I'm not sure if you'd like the story I'd be going to tell."

My question was a simple one. "Why?"

"It would be pretty similar to our own story…"

His answer sent chills down my spine. I did not know what to think about that.

"Would you mind to tell me which part?"

Once again, he kissed the soft spot under my ear. Bringing his lips close to my earlobe, he said with some hesitation: "Our first days. I told you on the day in the meadow about how I thought about…"

As he didn't go on, I did. "Killing me … "

He hesitated before going on. "Kill you, yes." He sounded sad. "There was a story like this told by our friends form Alaska one day and it is really pretty similar to our own if I couldn't have resisted that first day…" His grip around my waist tightened even a bit more. "I won't tell if you don't want me to."

Now, I was curious. He talked about it in the meadow when we had our first date, when he fully revealed what he really is. He gave me a short version of how his thoughts were running around in his head, forming dozens of ways how to kill me. Yes, I knew by that moment that I wanted to know a story which would be similar to our own if it had gone that way.

"Ok, tell us. I'm pretty curious myself." I whispered.

"Don't be frightened, Bella. Whatever I'm going to tell… It is just a made-up story, although there will be much truth hidden in it." He swiftly kissed the tip of my earlobe and I smiled.

"I trust you, Edward. Whatever you want to tell, just be careful not to give them a heart attack, ok? I love you."

"I love you, too, my Bella."

Jessica interrupted our conversation. "Hey, are you still with us, Bella? Edward? What are you whispering about?"

"Ah, sorry, Jess. I was just a bit scared because of Mike's story and Edward tried to calm me down a bit."

That comment let Mike's face light up. Sometimes it was so easy to make him happy… Nevertheless, Jess seemed satisfied with my answer; although she remarked that I didn't look a bit scared while Mike was telling his story.

"So, who's next?" Tyler asked. "I don't know any good story that could beat Mike's, so I won't tell any."

Mike was already staring straight into Edward's eyes. I could almost _feel_ the tension building up between them.

"How about Edward? Judging Mike's glare, he's challenging my little brother…" Emmett cut in with a slight grin on his face.

Everybody chuckled about that comment, mainly because they all saw how Mike was staring at Edward. Mike flushed a bit and looked away. Ah, so I'm not the only one able to blush, hum?

"Do you have a story to tell, Edward?" Tyler asked.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Edward smile. "Yes, in fact, I have one. But one warning before I'll start: You are going to need some really strong nerves for that one."

Mike had a wide smirk plastered on his face. "Show-off." He said.

That was a mistake, Mike.

Edward was now grinning himself – to be honest: that looked a bit scary with only the flames as a light source.

My beloved one looked once at Alice and then to Emmett. Both nodded while smiling. Their eyes showed excitement but also a warning. If Edward would go too far, no one of us would be able to sleep during the whole next week, I was absolutely positive about that.

Edward took his hand from my waist and instantly, it felt as if something was missing. I snuggled against his shoulder once more. He leaned forward, propping himself on his elbows which were resting on his knees by now.

"Ok. So… This story did not happen to myself. I think, I would not have lived through it if I was actually a witness. It is a story from Alaska and is told since some time before my family and I moved there. You would ask how I could be so sure about the truth of the story. Just let me tell you, that there is something that remained after the story took place where all of it was written down. It is a letter with no addressor on it and it was sent to the parents of a supposed-to-be dead girl. I said supposed-to-be, because dead persons won't write parts of letters." He said with a smile. Considering what he just told my friends, that was an expression they did not think to see on his face.

Jessica snuggled herself closer against Mike and he laid one of his arms around her shoulders. Angela was sitting closer to Eric by now. I knew they were not together but they came along pretty well and they were close friends. Lauren was already paling considerably.

After a short pause, Edward continued.

"This is the story about a vampire. To be more precise, a vampire and his _prey_."

Now, I needed his hand again. I reached up to his cold hand and entwined my fingers with his. He looked into my eyes and smiled a reassuring smile. After that, he proceeded.

"Most of you don't believe that vampires actually exist, I can see it on your faces. But trust me, after you lived in the same part of Alaska as we did, you'll begin believing in many things."

"The story begins in a normal high school in Alaska. In fact, the same one I attended. It was a cold and snowy day, the sun wasn't shining. It was the first day of a new student, too. She had transferred from another part of Alaska because her parents had to move due to their work. She wasn't happy to live in that small town, it was said that the sun would never come out and that all days were snowy and cloudy."

_Just like Forks_, I thought.

"Her name is not known anymore. The people started to call her _Jane_ some years after the story took place."

I had to smile about that. No one else would know about it, but he used the same pseudonyms we used in the small restaurant in Port Angeles the night he told me what he is.

"Well, as I said, it was her first day at school. She was pretty much lost, no one was really helping her to find the classrooms. That is, until she had to attend her mathematics class. She was sent to the last table in the room. Only one other person was sitting there: a boy with short brown hair and bright emerald eyes. His skin was pale – even paler than my own."

"Jane was pretty nervous when she saw the boy sitting at the table, staring at her. She couldn't look away but did not know why. She tried to show no fear to that strange boy and sat down beside him. '_Hi, I'm Jane'_ she introduced herself. '_Joe_.' he stated simply, still gazing in her maroon eyes."

"The letter said, he did not really know what was going on during that class – and I'm not talking about what the teacher was saying. Joe was feeling a strange sensation while sitting next to that human creature. He didn't let her look away, she was captured by the way he was looking at her. He studied her face – her maroon eyes, the dark blonde curls around her head, the way she clenched her jaw so she wouldn't show him how scared she was. He smiled about that. Joe already saw her fear in her eyes."

"After some time, he let her look away. She stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of her instead. He looked to the front of the classroom, but his eyes wandered back to Jane when she made a terrible mistake. She let her long curls fall over her left shoulder – Joe was sitting on her right side and now, he had an unlimited view on her long and slender neck. He saw that her skin was a very thin layer. His sight slid over her neck until he found the point where the blood was pumped through her carotid. '_It would be almost too easy_' he thought. In his throat, it felt as if a fire was burning. He knew that feeling all too good: He needed to drink again – and soon. Jane's scent was already filling the place and since he was able to hear her heartbeats, he got a pretty good impression of what he would be hunting that day. During the rest of the class, he thought how he could lure her away from the other students, away from school, preferably somewhere where they could be alone – where he could enjoy the taste of her blood to the fullest."

I had to remind me how to breathe. As he had said before: I knew which parts were the true ones. He was right, that story was already pretty similar to our own.  
Edward felt my tension, tightened his grip around my hand and started to rub soothing circles in its back.

As he let his words sink in, I took the chance and glanced around the others. Jess and Lauren were almost hiding behind their boys – but Mike and Tyler looked as if they could use someone to sooth them themselves. Angela was just very, very pale and Eric was holding her hand. It looked as if he was worried whether everything was ok with her.

But then, Edward continued.

"When the class came to its end and everybody took their things and went out of the classroom, Jane was still sitting on her place. Joe was leaning on the doorframe, waiting for her. '_Need help_?' he asked. Jane looked up into his eyes still slightly scared. She was feeling uncomfortable that this stranger took such an interest in her. '_No, everything's ok._' she answered. Maybe she did not even know it herself but her voice was trembling a bit. '_Well, you look a bit lost here. Where is your next class? Maybe I can show you the way_?' Joe asked. He already knew she wouldn't decline his offer. '_My next class is English…_' She packed her things in her bag and went towards Joe. '_Then let's go_.' He said simply and led the way out of the building."

"Stupid idea." Angela said in a low voice and Edward chuckled.

"Yes, indeed a stupid idea." With a wide grin, he flashed his white teeth but shortly after, he went back to his story.

"Jane was right by his side, looking to the ground all the time. He could hear her heart beating frantically. All her senses screamed to her to turn around and run, but Joe was an experienced hunter – he knew how to lure his prey, how he could make it follow him. It was already too late for Jane, when she realized that she wasn't on the school's ground anymore."

I laid my head on Edward's shoulder. He could hear my heart beating rapidly, I was sure about that. But somehow, it wasn't out of fear – Edward made a good job in telling that story. When I was scared, what about the others? He already told us that the girl wasn't dead at the end of the story, so what was left to tell was how Joe changed her. Well, that was what I thought: _That_ he changed her. To be honest: The suspense was killing me. How detailed would Edward be about the drinking part? Somehow, I was positive that he would talk about that…

In that moment, he took his hand from my own but laid it around my waist again, pulling me near. He took my other hand in his strong and cold one and started rubbing soothing circles on its back again.

"'_Where did you take me_?' Jane asked. She turned around and saw, that the school was no where to be seen. How long had she been going? Joe was puzzled. Normally, his prey wouldn't snap out of their daze before he started drinking. Maybe, this would be more… challenging. Tough he liked it if his prey was calm and helpless – well, helpless is the wrong word: His prey was _always_ helpless, regardless of their mental and physical state. He was made for hunting so naturally, he was a lot stronger than his prey would be. Jane felt the fear creeping up her spine. She felt something was going terribly wrong for her but somehow, she couldn't move. She opened her mouth but felt a hand covering it only a heartbeat later. The last thing she knew was that she felt as if she was falling into a very deep pit."

By now, everyone around the camp fire was as white as a sheet of paper. I closed my eyes and concentrated on how Edward would continue.

"It really was an easy hunt. Joe lifted the unconscious body off the ground in his strong arms and went into the forest. He needed some… privacy. He couldn't risk that someone would see him while drinking from her body. So, he chose a small clearing in the woods. No one would come around in the next hours, he knew so much. It was enough time to drink and get away before anyone could think of him being related to the death."

"He found the small clearing he was looking for. Small wildflowers were blooming all over the place and the trees were standing so close to one another that it looked like a natural wall around the place. Joe laid the girl on the ground."

"Somehow, the thought that she really looked cute crossed his mind. No, forget that. She looked beautiful. Rays of sunlight were playing over her fragile body, bringing out the hidden colours in her hair and skin. It was the first time that Joe had doubts in what he was going to do. He sat down besides her, letting his fingers stroke her cheek, down to her neck. The scent of her blood was something he had never smelled so far, it was so… luscious, so rich. Somewhere in the back of his head, a voice told him that he wouldn't have to _kill_ her. He could just drink her almost dry and then… change her. Change her into one of his own kind, into a vampire. Finally, he would have a mate after who knows how many centuries. Being alone all the time was taking its toll, his live was becoming more boring every day that passed."

Once again, he let his words sink in but this time, something behind the trees let the bushes rustle. Jess and Lauren both squeaked in surprise and dived behind their boys. I couldn't help myself: that sight was just too funny. I let out a low chuckle and Edward grinned down on me.

"What happened then…?" Came the hesitant question from Angela. Eric was already holding her in a tight embrace.

"Well… Jane stirred in her sleep and was waking up again. Joe knew he had to make his decision. On the one hand, he could suck her dry in a matter of minutes. She would be dead and nothing else would happen. On the other hand, he could drink a lot from her blood but leave some in her system. He'd need to let her drink from her own blood subsequently, so the transformation would begin. Each way, his thirst would be saturated."

I had to smile. I did not expect him to tell the others how one could become a vampire but I didn't suspect him of using the '_common believe_' how to become one of his kind.

"As I said, Jane awoke. Slowly her eyes opened but when she looked around to take in her surroundings, her gaze fell on Joe right next to her. '_What…_' She started to ask a question but Joe just smiled down on her, putting one finger on her mouth to stop her from talking. He had made his decision. In a swift movement, too fast for Jane to see, he was above her and pinned her down to the ground. He looked one last time into her fearful eyes. She did not know what was going to happen, he was sure of that. He smiled once again down to Jane, fully aware of the fact that she would be able to see his _fangs_ by now. Holding a tight grip on her wrists, he brought his mouth down to the soft spot of her neck and bit into the flesh. Jane did not even try to fight him off, he was pretty surprised. Not only that: She didn't scream, too. Maybe she knew she had no chance against the monster above her?"

I tensed as he said 'monster'. I knew it was just a story and he needed to use that word so his listeners would be even more scared, but anyway. I never liked it when he said that he was a monster about himself.

"After Joe was finished, Jane laid almost lifeless beneath him. He needed to let her drink now. If he wouldn't, she would just die right in front of him."

I felt that he was going to end the story right there.

"Did he change her?" I asked, but my voice broke at the end of the short sentence. Somehow, I got an uneasy feeling in my gut.

Edward lifted my chin so he could look straight into my eyes.

"A week later, Jane's parents received the letter I mentioned at the beginning. Her mother recognized the handwriting of the last line of the letter. '_I won't ever forget you_' was written at the bottom of the paper. The mother knew it was Jane's handwriting."

Edward smiled while telling me that and I smiled back, the uneasiness had completely vanished.

My beloved one looked into the faces of the others around the campfire. "I don't know how much of that story is true, though. I'm sure that there are many parts which were just made up and added during the years. But every story has a truth hidden between the lines – and in this case, it surely is that letter where Joe tells why he took Jane away. I saw it myself and believe me: After that, you won't go into the woods alone for a _very_ long time."

After his story had ended, it was still silent for quite some time. Everybody was thinking about what they had heard.

Finally, Jessica ended it. "Uhm… Angela? Would you mind accompanying me to the bathroom?" She whispered to Angela but since it was so quiet, everybody was able to hear it. Angela just grinned and stood up. Together, they made their way to the bathroom.

"To be honest Edward: That was the best scary story I heard so far. Wow… I'm pretty sure I won't ever go to Alaska now." Eric said, fully ignoring the glares he received from Mike. I had to grin about that. Just one more victory for _my_ Edward.

Edward knew what I was thinking about and pulled me into a kiss.

Before he could pull away, I whispered: "Do you think they got their happily ever after?" I couldn't hold that last question in me.

He smiled my favourite crooked smile. "I think, they will still have some problems – eternity is a pretty long time – but I'm sure they will be able to solve all of them and eventually get their happily ever after, yes." He whispered.

Now, it was my turn to pull him into a kiss.

Our moment was ruined when Lauren let out a loud and infectious yawn.

"Does anybody know how late it is?" Angela asked as she walked back to us, Jessica in tow.

Emmett looked down in his watch. "Almost midnight." He stated.

"How does '_Leave it for today and go get some sleep_' sound to you?" Jessica was already half asleep herself.

"Great idea, Jess." All of us other girls agreed. Surprisingly, even Alice.

Tyler was grinning at us, while we were standing up. "Just an excuse to get away from the scary stories, hum?"

"If you want to see it that way… But be honest: Do you really think someone could tell a better story than Edward?" Alice asked while faking sleepiness into her voice. She could be a great actress.

Mike looked as if somebody hit him right in the stomach. Somehow, I felt a little pity for him.

"Ok, I don't think so, you're right. Good night!" He said, as we walked towards our Girls-only-cabin.

Alice took my hand and made sure I wouldn't trip but only a few seconds later, I could feel two strong and cold arms wrapping themselves around my waist from behind me.

Edward leaned forward and whispered into my ear: "What do you think about a good-night's kiss?"

I smiled and turned around. Alice was standing some feet away from us, waiting for me. "Sounds wonderful."

With that, our lips met once again in a kiss – but this time, it was one of the latest passionate ones. I parted my lips and felt his tongue once again sliding over my lower lip and over my teeth. Oh, how I would love to do the same to him… But I already knew that would only happen when I was a vampire. He would never give me the chance to cut myself on his sharp teeth.

Far too soon, he pulled away and licked the remains of his venom from my lips. He knew by now that I couldn't stop myself doing that so his only reaction to it was a lovely smirk.

"Good night, my angel. I love you." He said as he kissed my forehead one last time.

"Good night, Edward. I love you, too. I hope you won't get too bored this night." I said while smiling into his glorious face.

He let out a low chuckle. "I hope so myself."

"Bella? Are you ready?" Alice asked a bit impatient.

"Yes, I'm coming." I glanced for one more second into Edward's topaz eyes, then turned around to join Alice. I could feel his gaze on my back while his sister and I were going to our cabin.

"Ok, girls. We will go to the bathroom now and after we are back in here, I'll set up the alarm device, ok?" Alice commanded as we shut the door behind us.

The rest of us girls just nodded and took out our things we needed for the bathroom.

After we got back from there, Alice rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She took some _meters_ of threat and ever few centimetres, she knotted a small bell on it.  
"Can we help, Alice?" Angela asked.

"No, no, I'm already halfway finished, but thank you."

So we were just sitting on our beds, watching Alice running around the room, tying the threat under windows and on the doorknob. This way, we would hear anyone trying to sneak into our cabin. Well, Alice would hear them even if they would still be meters away from any door or window, but she had to act like a human. I think, sometimes that's a real challenge for a vampire…

"That idea is great, Alice! Hopefully, it will work…" Jessica said.

"Believe me, it will. And by the way: If anyone actually manages to sneak in here, we still have that nice little thing there." She said while pointing to a rope.  
I don't know how long that was, maybe a meter? Maybe two? I couldn't make it out in the dark. But what was she planning where she needed something like _that_?

"Alice, for what do we need a rope?" Lauren asked as if she had read my thoughts.

Alice was grinning like a madman. "Lauren, if somebody brakes into your house and you would have the opportunity to overwhelm that someone and _shackle_ him, wouldn't you do that?"

_Shackle_?!

"Believe me girls, the boys will need something to cool their head off after sneaking into _this__cabin_ and I will find a way to ensure that. But until then, we will have to tie them up before they will get away again. To be honest: I kind of doubt that the boys are actually stupid enough to sneak into this cabin…" At the end, Alice was almost whispering. Somehow, I liked her plan… And by the way she was grinning earlier that day it was clear that someone would break in.

"Now, we should go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard day and I think we'll need all the energy we can get. Good night, girls!" With that, Alice dived onto her bed, snuggling close against her pillow and pulling the blankets over her.

"Good night!" Everybody said. After that, Angela switched off the lights.

Alice had already closed her eyes and if I didn't know better, I would say she was sleeping.  
I thought the next day would be quite interesting… But only a heartbeat later, I could feel sleepiness win over my body and I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The story Mike told is originally called "the hook". I read that it is an urban legend from Texas but it was the only "nice" scary story I found out there in the net. I never got to listen to, let alone _tell _a scary story so this chpater was really, really hard to write. At the end, I was almost deciding to put it in the trashcan -.- But if I had done that, I wouldn't write on on this story, I know that from experience... So please forgive me for that terrible mess, you may hit me now. But I am pretty sure the next chapter will be _way _better. Maybe that's because it's full of fluff? I love fluff...  
Anyway. Please tell me, what you think. Tell me everything, good things, bad things,... Tear the chapter apart if you like. I'd do that myself and in my head, I'm doing it right now -.- (Ah, and for everyone who's interested: This chapter has over 6200 words. Compared to the first chapter, it's 6 times longer. And I was proud to write 1000 words in english... Where is that going to end o.O?) 


	9. Chapter nine Trapped

AN: Hi again X)

One thing before I start my personal AN-Rambling: Thanks for all your reviews! I was soooo happy after the last chapter – my eMail-box practically exploded from all your reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ah, and sorry that I didn't update yesterday. Somehow, I was just… lazy o.O° I was laying in my bed all day, dreaming and sleeping, it was great XD (Yeah, one of the great things of university: I have a free day on Monday so I can do whatever I want X) )

I hope, you'll like the chapter. In fact, it's my favourite… /big grin/ Maybe that's just because it's pretty fluffy… Anyway. I was singing "He is going to kill me" to the tune of "He's a jolly good fellow" all the while I was writing the chapter XD Stupid, I know, but funny and somehow fitting XD

So, I rambled enough. On with the story :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or New Moon. (If I want to say I don't own both: Do I have to say "and" or "or" o.O°?)

* * *

**Chapter Nine – ****Trapped**

_Krrrk, krrrk, krrk_

Hum? What was that…? Slowly, I opened my eyes. It was still dark outside, there was no light coming through the windows.

Silence.

Ok, so, maybe it was just my imagination. I rolled to the other side of the narrow bed and closed my eyes ones more, trying to get back to sleep.

_Krrk, krrrrrrrrrrrrrk, thumb_

Now, _that_ wasn't my imagination. I heard Angela's sheet shuffle as she sat up in her bed.

"Angela? Did you hear that, too?" I asked while propping myself on my elbows.

"Hum? Oh, yeah. Well, maybe it's only a branch out there?" She answered, her voice still sleepy.

"But since when do branches make noises like '_thumb'_?" I recognised the voice as Alice's. She sounded sleepy as well, however she managed to do that. Didn't she know anything? I mean, she was able to hear what or who was out there…

_Knock, knock_

"Weeee!" Lauren fell out of her bed with a squeaking noise. Somebody had knocked on the window above her bed. As I looked to the window, there were only some shadows of the nearby wood but no one who could have knocked on the glass.

"Wh-who's there?" Jessica asked with a shaking voice. It seemed, everybody in our cabin was awake again.

Again, there was silence.

"I know someone's out there, come and show you!" Alice called.

Then, there was a chuckle right on the other side of the wall next to my bed. Now, it was me who was squeaking. I jumped out of my bed and hid myself behind Alice. It was pathetic, I knew, but somehow I felt saver next to my vampire friend.

It was silent again for a short time. I could feel the tension building up in our room.

"Wasn't there that killer with a hook somewhere around this place…?" Jessica asked with a trembling voice.

Alice gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, that was totally made-up, believe me, Jess. And think about it: _If_ it was a true story, it happened many years ago. To be honest, somehow that chuckle we heard remembered me of someone…" She was staring to our door by then, having an angry glare in her eyes.

_BOOM_!

Something hit the door really, really hard.

Now, all of us girls were screaming, even Alice. She wasn't scared right now, was she?  
Before we could calm down, she was running on the upper edge of human speed to the door and ripped it open.

"Emmett Cullen! I _know_ it was you! Be a man and show yourself!" She shouted out into the night. Again, there was a ghostly chuckle but it was followed by silence. No one showed up.

Alice heaved a heavy sigh and closed the door again, slouching. "Beware, Emmett, beware… You can't hide all the time." She muttered under her breath.

„Alice? Why are you so positive it was Emmett?", Lauren asked as she sat back onto her bed.

"I know my brother, Lauren. That's just his kind of _joke_."

Alice climbed back into her bed. "Trust me girls, if someone is stupid enough to sneak in our cabin after that event right now, he will receive no mercy from me." She said while letting out a very low growl. I wasn't sure she wanted us to hear it, but it was so silent in our cabin right now that we did. Wouldn't it be me and my increasing knowledge of vampire behaviour, I would get the impression that she was angry beyond sense – but with mentioned knowledge, I could hear it wasn't an angry growl she let out. More of a… playful one. Anyway, the other girls didn't know it and backed away a bit, until their backs reached the wall behind them.

Alice turned around and slid into a sleeping position, her face turned to me. Although it was pretty dark, I could see she was grinning like a madman.

"Well, good night again, then…" Angela said, while slipping under her covers again.

"Good night." We responded and tried to sleep, too.

Something tried to wake me by poking the tip of my nose. I could feel it was a cold finger and since I was sure it wasn't Edward, I really hoped for Emmett's sake that it would be Alice. If Emmett would be sitting in front of me while I'd open my eyes, I would kill him for the last night.

That bothersome finger was still poking.

Slowly, I opened my eyes – it felt as if I had gotten no sleep at all during the last hours. Well, I hoped, that were _hours_ I was thinking about. While I opened my eyes, I could already see a glimpse of light shining through the windows in our cabin. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I could see Alice sitting on the edge of my bed. She was grinning again.

"Good to see you awake, Bella. Someone's coming!" She whispered in a very low voice.

I yawned. "Hum?"

"I'm talking about boys, Bella. It seems as if there are two of that stupid species on their way to our cabin!"

Suddenly, I was fully awake and sat up in my bed. "Who?"

"I can't tell - my vision was really, really short and not precise in that part. I just know that they are two boys and they will be here within the next ten minutes." Now, her grin rivalled the one of the grinning cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"I'll wake the girls, while you change into your normal clothes. We will have to be prepared… Ah, and don't turn on the lights! They mustn't know that we are awake already!"

I just nodded my head and took out the things I wanted to wear today. A long, slightly washed out blue jeans and a comfy blue T-shirt. As I pulled my hair back into a pony tail, the other girls were already awake. No one tried to make a noise while changing into their clothes.

It was still slightly dark outside and as I glanced to my watch, it said it was six in the morning. That would explain why I thought I didn't get any sleep last night. I thought it would sum up to maybe five hours of sleeping time and that wasn't very much.

Alice showed us, where we would have to be standing – or to be more precise: hiding. We put our bags into our beds so it would look like we were still sleeping and hid in the corners and behind the door of our cabin.

Alice and I hid behind the front door. If those two idiots were sneaking into our room, we could shut the door behind them and they would be trapped. I had to grin a bit about that. The other girls hid behind their beds and the closets so they could surprise and overpower the boys.

Only a few seconds later, I could hear a voice.

"Oh, come on, you are such a _chicken_!" I recognized that voice as Mike's. Now, my grin got even wider.

"_You're_ calling _me_ a chicken? Let me tell you: I have something you don't have and it's called self-preservation."

_Oh, no_.

I would recognize that voice from miles away even if it would be whispering, while standing in a crowd of screaming people. _Edward_.

I shot Alice a terrified glance. If Edward was about to sneak in, we couldn't possibly do what we were going to do, could we? I mean, overpower a _vampire_? Oh, this _has_ to be a joke…  
Alice just grinned back. And that grin was reaching from ear to ear. Her eyes were sparkling like crazy.

"Alice, we-" I began, but she put her hand over my mouth.

"Trust me, Bella." She whispered in a so low voice that I had troubles understanding her, even though I was standing right beside her. "But we have to overwhelm him _together_ and fast – we should not risk any other human touching him."

I just nodded my head. Hopefully, Edward would just go away, ignoring Mike – but I knew he would never let Mike call him a chicken. But maybe, Edward read our thoughts while standing here and he would know what we were about to do? I meant: he could stand outside and watch… He wouldn't have to suffer himself.

But hey, I was thinking about _Edward_. Even _if_ we would overwhelm him, he would easily break free and get away.

At least, that was what I hoped.

"_Self-preservation_? Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" That was Mike again. He was right next to our door now, his voice was quite loud. "What are you afraid of, huh? I mean, what's the worst those _girls_ could _do_? Tickle you?"

I could practically see Edward's reaction. Well, in fact, I heard it. If there would be one other thing I would recognize in a group of screaming people, it would be his growl, no matter how low. This time, it was very low. Yes, he was definitely not happy about what Mike has said or thought. In that moment it was clear to me that he would come inside, even if there would be a vampire-eating dragon waiting for him in our cabin.

I heard Mike's voice again. "Be quite now, I think, they are still sleeping."

Right after he said that, our door opened with a little creak only a few inches wide.

"If you set a food _in there_, you'll set a foot in _hell_ if the girls are awake - I hope you are fully aware of that fact." Edward reminded him once more. I had to smile. If he only knew what would await them… I mean, not that I knew it to the fullest myself. But I had a pretty good feeling that Alice already had something in her mind.

Mike whispered back: "As I said: _chicken_."

The door slit open a few inches more. Mike set one foot into our cabin, then the other. I could tell from his expression that he couldn't see much. He was just a few feet away from me but couldn't see me or Alice. It was going great.

Alice suddenly clamped her hand over my mouth. Oh, I forgot – Edward would be able to feel my breath. The sudden coolness sent chills down my spine.

Mike was by then standing in the middle of our room, apparently searching for something. He did not see that we were not in our beds…

The door moved again a bit and I held my breath. Edward didn't need to move especially carefully, he was silent by nature. If I wouldn't be able to see his pale skin only a few feet away from me, I wouldn't know he was already in our cabin.

Slowly, he moved a few feet further into the room. Something was bothering him, I could see it in his movements. They got more careful with every step he took.

By now, he was a few feet away from the still open door. Suddenly, his movements came to a stop and for a second, he closed his eyes. As he opened them only a heartbeat later, he looked frantically into the room.

Oh, no, he read someone's mind.

"Now!" Alice yelled, while tackling her brother from behind. Surprisingly, Edward went down, having to stop his fall with his hands. In the room, the other girls were trying to hold Mike down, who was already laying on the floor with his back pressed on the ground.

"Bella, I need you here!" Alice commanded. Ok Bella, try and tame that vampire…

I hurried next to her while she was trying to pin Edward down to the ground while kneeling over his waist. She was already fighting a loosing battle. Edward wouldn't dare use his vampire strength here but Alice wouldn't either. Having in mind that Alice was a lot smaller than Edward, he wouldn't even need his strength…

"Come here!" She demanded while pulling me right in front of her. It was a bit too fast for a human but our friends were still having problems holding Mike down, so they wouldn't have seen it.

Now, I was practically in the same position as Alice has been: Having my knees left and right from Edward's waist, Alice placed my hands on the spot between his shoulder blades and only a few inches under that place where his neck was ending to the chest. I was flaming red, I could feel it on my cheeks.

But that was not the only thing I could feel. First, there was that strange feeling in my gut. I could tell that this was the feeling all humans got around a vampire, since it made me quite nervous. Second, the feeling of betrayal. I mean, I was trying to pin my boyfriend down, normally that's nothing a girlfriend would do, right? And third, I felt completely helpless. Naturally, Alice was trying to hold at least his arms down, too, but nevertheless: I felt his muscles tense and work beneath me – although I was barely touching him – and I knew he was fighting with himself. Edward knew I would brag with it at least in front of Emmett that I had pinned him down as soon as my beloved boyfriend would be mean to me again – like snatching my credit card away once more. But he also knew that he couldn't just stand up and go away. It would make the girls curious.

And above all other things, Edward knew that the other girls would help me and Alice to pin him down if he wouldn't stop fighting soon.

The miracle happened. Eventually, Edward's resistance subsided.

I wasn't aware of the fact that I had stopped breathing when Alice pulled me on top of Edward but now my lungs screamed at me to breathe again. So I heaved a heavy sigh and loosened my hold on him a little. Alice let out a very low chuckle and I could feel Edward chuckle, too, although I couldn't hear him.

"How are you doing?" Alice asked towards the middle of the room, where Lauren, Jessica and Angela were holding the now completely helpless Mike down. Lauren was holding his left arm down, Angela his right one and Jessica was sitting on his legs. He couldn't move an inch.

"Everything's fine, Alice!" Angela called merrily.

"Ok… Lauren, I need you to block the door. Just stand in front of it, I hope the boys are clever enough not to try to break out again – even though they were stupid enough to break in." Alice commanded.

Lauren took a last glance towards Mike, then she stood up and positioned herself in front of the door. It was a miracle how Alice could command something and everybody would follow her orders, but I thought that was just one of their vampire abilities. Those could come in handy, so much was clear.

"Ok guys, we will let you stand up but trust me: If you are trying to run, my wrath will be unbearable. Understood?" The female vampire in asked.

"Yes…" But Mike's answer sounded more than a frightened question than a simple response.

I could feel that Edward was chuckling again under me. My hands were now laying loose against his back – would he '_seriously'_ try to break free again, I wouldn't be able to stop him.

"Edward? Did you understand me?" Alice asked in a warning tone.

Edward stifled his chuckles and answered with a velvety voice: "Yes, Alice, I understand."

Once more, Alice looked at Mike, then at Edward and then to Lauren, who was still standing in front of the door.

"Ok, Angela, Jessica, let Mike stand up. Bella, don't move."

I did as I was told and watched while Jessica and Angela were moving away so Mike could stand up. He rubbed his arms where Angela and Lauren had pinned him down. Apparently, they have had a tight grip on him.

"What, Cullen? Defeated by two small girls? They even needed three to fight _me_." He bragged with a smug grin plastered on his face.

I knew it would sound hilarious to Edward and Alice but I was sure I could give Mike chills running down his spine by doing it. I tried to growl. "I'm _not_ small. And if you say something like that again I'll come and show you what I'm capable of." I said through clenched teeth while I was glaring at him. It worked: He even backed away two feet. It was an empty thread but he didn't know that.

Alice was grinning at me like a madman and I could feel Edward was holding his breath so he wouldn't laugh out loud himself. Nevertheless, I could feel chuckles building up in his chest.

Alice looked back to the three standing teens in front of us. "Take him to the right corner, I don't like him standing in the room so freely."

Both girls gripped his wrists and started dragging him into before mentioned corner.

Mike looked scared. "Hey, what's going on? Can't you just forget what I did and let me go? I mean, there was no harm done, and-"

"No, Mike, believe us, you're going to suffer." Angela told him. I never knew she could sound so… intimidating.

Angela and Jessica were now standing a few feet in front of Mike, who was pressed with his back against the corner of the room. I had to grin. He would never forget this morning, I was sure about that. Defeated by a bunch of _girls_…If it weren't Mike, I would feel pity for his ego.

Alice eyed Edward suspiciously. "You're not going to do something stupid, are you?" She asked.

"I'll behave, I promise." Edward said in his most velvety voice. Wait a moment, did he try out his power on his sister?

Yes, he did. Furthermore: It worked. I could see Alice's eyes glanced over as she released her grip on Edward's arms.

Now, it was just me on his back, holding him down. He could feel the muscles in my hands tense as I tried in a pathetic attempt to get back my hold on him.

"You can set me free, Bella, I won't do anything. Believe me." This time, he didn't use his I-can-let-you-make-whatever-I-want voice. After a small hesitation – and a low chuckle from him – I got up and stepped a foot away so he had enough room to stand up himself.

Just as Alice before, I shot him a suspicious glance when he was standing in front of me. He just gave me his crooked smile and winked at me. Then, he got off to stand besides Mike – he already knew what Alice had planned so far in her head.

Now, Alice got off from the ground, took my hand and together, we joined the small semi-circle with Angela and Jessica. It was the first time that I actually saw what Mike and Edward were wearing. Both were dressed in knee-length swimming shorts since we wanted to go swimming this day, normal sandals and button-up shirts. I just caught a very short glimpse of Mike's clothing, since I was captured by the way Edward looked. His shorts were a dark navy blue with an even darker stripe on the side of his legs, subtly hinting on its designer origin. His shirt was a matching blue colour but a bit lighter than the blue of the shorts. It had short sleeves so one had an unlimited view on his muscular arms.

Alice clicked her fingers in front of my face and I let out a low squeak, which was followed by several chuckling noises all around me. Edward was directly grinning at me while trying to stifle his laugher.

No, _please_, somebody tell me that I wasn't ogling at my boyfriend in front of all those people around me…

I spun around to hide my face _at least_ from Edward. I was mortified and my cheeks were burning furiously.

As the laugher and chuckling subsided, Alice started the interrogation. I was still turned with my back to Edward, looking at my feet in embarrassment. "Ok, guys, what did you want to do in our cabin at this time of the day?"

"Nothing?" Mike asked. His answer as too fast to believe – and the fact that it came out as a question didn't help it either.

"Oh, really, _nothing_… Well, you were searching for that _nothing_ pretty hard when you stood here in our room before we fought you down." Jessica stated.

Mike tried anew. "Well, uhm… We…"

I felt my blush go away and turned around again – although I tried to avoid looking at Edward's face.

"What Mike wants to tell you, ladies, is that he wanted to show what a great robber he can be. His plan was to sneak in, fetch something personal from Jessica and sneak out again without being noticed. And before you do anything rash, Jessica –although I could understand you- by talking about personal stuff I mean something like your hairbrush. If he would have gotten out with anything what you have in _your_ mind right now, I would have made him go back inside and apologize. Though stealing isn't something a gentleman should do, stealing _that_ kind of stuff is below the belt." All the while he was talking, Edward had looked Jessica straight into the eyes and now, Jessica looked like she couldn't decide between slapping Mike square in the face or thinking about the fact that Edward had really talked to her – while even using more than one sentence. I just hoped she would remember how to breathe before she would faint. Her eyes already had this a-Cullen-boy-talked-to-me glint in them.

Mike wanted to punch Edward between the ribs with his elbow but when he tried, Edward just evaded by stepping one foot forward. How would he explain Mike why he would suddenly have a broken elbow?  
He glared at Mike, then stepped back and leaned again against the wall, his hands in the pockets of his shorts. He looked like a god.

Ah! I'm ogling _again_!

I shook my head and took a deep breath. Maybe that would help me.  
It didn't. Edward's scent was all over the place and it was making me dizzy.

"Alice?" I whispered while leaning to her ear.

"Hm?"

"Would it be a problem if I'd open a window?"

She grinned – I thought, she already knew why.

"No problem, but take the one on the other side of the room." She answered.

"Ok, thank you."

I strode to the window and while I opened it, Alice continued her interrogation.

"Ah, ok, so that explains why Mike was here. But what about you? Did you need lessons in how to steal something from a helpless girl?"

I went pack to the place I had and looked at Edward. He was grinning.

"My dear Alice, I wouldn't call you girls helpless. You already proved that you are well capable of defending yourselves."

I let out a low chuckle and thankfully, it went unnoticed. Well, it would have if there wouldn't be two vampires standing next to me. Both shot me a short glance but went back to glaring at each other after it.

"You didn't answer my question." Alice stated matter-of-factly and Edward took in a deep breath.

"There are several reasons why I broke into your cabin. The first is that this person next to me challenged me in a way I couldn't refuse. The second reason… Well, to tell the truth, I was curious. Since you make such a big deal of hiding your room, I wanted to know what all that fuss is about." He confessed.

"Well, that's not much more gentlemanlike than sneaking in just to steal something from a girl…" I noted while trying to hide a grin from my face.

He narrowed his eyes looking at me and although I knew he wasn't angry, I got the feeling that I was close to getting into trouble.

Alice stepped in and rescued me. "Bella is right. What Mike did wasn't nice but what you did wasn't nice either. I think, we will have to punish you… I mean, I don't want to stay up all night because I'm too scared that you two will try to get in again."

It was hard to contain my facial expression when she said she would have to stay up all night. I tried to cover my grin with the back of my hand and searched for something on the walls to stare at. I knew that if I would dare to look at Alice or Edward right that moment, I would break into a horrible laughing fit again. I already had that yesterday, that was enough for a long time.

"Punish?" Mike asked meekly. He didn't like the idea of being punished, that was clear. Edward just looked… suspiciously at Alice. It seemed that Alice blocked her mind or wasn't yet sure what to do to those poor _boys_ in front of her.

"Yes, punish. But what to do with you…" Alice mused.

"I have an idea." Lauren said while still standing at the door.

All of us but Alice turned around. Alice herself gave Lauren a signal to go on while still holding her gaze on Edward and Mike in case they would do something stupid.

"Well, some years ago, I have been here with my family. We went here because of that wonderful warm lake right next to this camping ground. Anyway, one day, we made a small walk up the river which flows through that lake. After some time, longer than half an hour but shorter than a full hour, we reached a small _waterfall_." The longer she talked, the slower she became.

I was a bit confused. What would a waterfall have to do with a punishment?

But apparently, Alice understood what Lauren was talking about.

"Sounds nice, Lauren, but a warm waterfall isn't something that could be called a punishment, wouldn't you agree?"

"Alice, that's exactly the point. I didn't say that the waterfall has _warm_ water in it, right?"

A huge grin made his way on Alice's face while Mike was paling considerably. Edward just looked uncomfortable.

"It's cold, right?" Alice asked just to be sure.

"_Ice-cold_." Lauren said with a matching voice.

By now, every girl in the room was grinning like a madman while staring at poor Mike and Edward.

"So, I think, their punishment is set." Jessica said. "But… How do we get them to that waterfall? I mean, it was easy to use the moment of surprise and attack them but I have a _little_ doubt that keeping them in check will be so easy out there in the woods."

"She has a point." Angela stated.

"Yes, she has." Alice agreed while still grinning. "But I have the perfect solution for _that _problem."

Alice looked at Jessica and me. "Jess, Bella, go get the ropes."

Jessica giggled like crazy and went to retrieve one of the long ropes. Until now I didn't even know that there was more than just one, but maybe Alice had cut them when she saw we would have more than one _guest_.

I looked at the female vampire next to me as if she had lost her mind. "You don't really mean that." I stated.

She just flashed me a very wide grin, showing her teeth. "Yes, I _do_ really mean that." She said merrily.

"We're not going to tie Edward up." I whispered in a low voice only she should've heard. "_Please_ say, we won't."

In a low voice matching my own, she answered: "No, we won't, Bella." Thank you, Alice! "_You_ will."

_What_?!

I just wanted to say something but she put a finger on my lips to stop my protest. "Bella, you're the only one who could do that. I won't let any other human do it and I can't do it myself."

I looked at her in utter confusement.

"He'd try to fight me off and trust me, he would win that battle. But he would never _dare_ to fight against _you_ because he could easily hurt you while _I_'m nearly indestructible."

Well, that made sense.

I tried to snatch a glimpse at Edward out of the corner of my eye. He was still leaning casually at the wall but as he looked me in the eyes it was as if he had told me "Try it and you'll be in trouble."

I took in a deep breath. Ok, now I had to choose: Having Edward against me or having the girls – including Alice – against me. As much as I tried, I couldn't find a way to avoid either side's wrath.

Sorry Edward.

I went to the rope which was still lying on the floor, picked it up and went back to Alice's side.

Mike was as pale as a sheet of paper right now and it looked like he was trying to back away through the wall. Edward was still calm, although I could see that he would preferably try to run away just like Mike. I couldn't hide a smile about that thought.

The rope in my hands wasn't a very thick one. Maybe two or three centimetres in diameter. Anyway, it had almost half a meter's length.

"Ok, I think, it will be enough to tie them up at their wrists. That way, they won't be able to hold their balance when they try to run and so it will be easier to catch them again. Ah, and by the way, boys, if you really want to try and run away, your punishment will be harder. Trust me." Apparently, Alice had the time of her life. She was still grinning like crazy and her eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Mike, Edward, would you please step forward so that Jess and Bella get a good hold on your wrists? The more you work together with us, the less time you'll be standing in the cold water. I promise." She commanded.

Mike looked like a caged animal. Apparently, he thought about his statement from earlier: _'They are just girls, what's the worst they could do?' _Well, it seemed that we were at least able to crush his ego.

As I looked towards Edward, my heart seemed to skip a beat. He wasn't happy with what we had in mind – well, to be more precise: what his sister had in mind. He eyed me suspiciously, glanced over to Mike, sighed and stepped forward.

"Do whatever you have to do." He said while his eyes locked with mine. I couldn't look away anymore and gulped. That made him grin a little. He blinked once to release me from his spell and as I cautiously stepped towards him, he asked in a very low but slightly concerned voice "Scared?"

I took in a deep breath and reached carefully for his right wrist as I stepped behind him. "Not really but… I'm in trouble, right?" I whispered so low that nobody else was able to hear it while I stroke over his wrist to the middle of his hand. Apparently, Jess and the other girls had a hard time holding Mike still enough to tie him up. They made quite some noise.

He chuckled, closed his cold hand around my own one but released it a few seconds later while voluntarily putting his left wrist over his right one. He bent his head and looked over his shoulder down on me. With a playful smile and an amused glint in his eyes, he said: "You have _no_ idea how deep in trouble, my love."

I chuckled a bit and then tried to tie his wrists together. It was more complicated that I had thought, but when Alice came to look at my work, I had managed to tie them together. Even if he would run away – if he would try, he would succeed, I was positive about that fact – it would make no difference if his wrists were tied up. He could rip them apart in seconds – even if they would be made of steel. That was another fact I was absolutely positive about.

As Alice stood next to Edward to look what I had managed to do to his wrists, Edward was growling at her. Well, I could feel it more than hear, to be honest.

Anyway, Alice ignored it.

"Great, Bella. Good that you chose to work together with us, brother dear." She giggled and Edward made one more step towards her.

"Ah, no, no, no, Edward. Behave – you even promised it when Bella released you from your pinned position. I think you can remember it." She grinned at Edward who was just glaring back at her.

If_ I_ was in trouble for following Alice's orders, what about Alice herself? Somehow I doubted that she will like our ride back home… If Edward won't get back on her before that.

By now, Jessica had managed to tie up Mike. He looked mortified and struggled with the rope in the hope that no one would see his attempts to break free again.

"Bella, Edward is all yours now. Handle with care." She winked at me and put my hand over the final knot of Edward's rope. "Be careful, Edward can be pretty tricky if he wants to." She warned in a low voice before turning back to Mike.

I had to chuckle a bit about her last comment. Without much thinking, I put my second hand next to my first one and stroke up and down his forearm. Maybe I imagined it but it seemed as if he relaxed a bit under my touch. I had to smile about it.

I could hear Alice scolding: "Mike, if you continue to struggle like that, your wrists will be sore and hurting in less than a few minutes. Trust me, you don't want to risk that."

"Lauren? I guess you still know the way, right?" Angela asked Lauren.

"Yeah, sure. The path is easy to find – although a certain _someone_ in this group will have serious problems walking on it." I didn't need to see her to know that she shot daggers with her glare at me. I could hear a growl making it's way to the surface inside Edward's chest and laid one hand on his back. As if on cue, the growl subsided and I could feel him taking in deep breaths to calm himself.

"It's ok, I'm used to that." I whispered to him.

As a response, he bend his fingers to stroke my wrists. In fact, it tickled a bit.

Alice looked at Jessica, still with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Ok, now… Since we won't let the boys die because of catching a cold, Jessica, we need one of your towels. Mike will have to dry himself up when we're finished."

Jessica told her in which closet she had put her towels and Angela went to get one of the bigger ones.

Before Alice could ask, I told her where to find mine. They were laying beneath my bed, since I had no room for them in the closet. They were huge – I could hide behind them when one of those would be hanging somewhere.

Alice snatched a blue one and smiled at me.

"Ok, girls, let's go! It already half past seven, I think, the other boys are wondering where Mike and Edward are at this moment, and we still have a long way to go in front of us. Any last questions or last wishes?" She asked with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Since no one answered, she opened the door and mentioned us to get out.

Lauren was the first one besides Alice who got out of our cabin, followed by Angela and Jessica who were practically shoving Mike out of our room. I got the impression that he'll be standing under that waterfall for quite a long time…

As all the others were out, I glanced up to Edward. "You won't make any trouble, will you?"

Even though he had his face facing forward I was standing behind him, I still could see him grin. "Who knows? I think, it will be up to you to watch after me and make sure I'll behave, my love." He bent his head one more time and winked at me while giving me a warm smile.

I let out a low chuckle and gave Edward a small shove in the direction of the front door.

A second later, we stepped out of our cabin into the light of a new and pretty cloudy day.

* * *

AN: (somehow I'm getting used to double-ANs... Sorry ;) ) I hope, you liked the chapter. Please tell me, what you think of it - and if you want to ask why Edward was already standing _inside _the room when he knew something was wrong, just wait for the next chapter ;) Trust me, there's a reason to it X)  
And about this chapter: I wanted it to be part of the chapter I was going to write right after the initial AN. I thought it wouldn't take more than two, maybe three pages. Apparently, I was wrong - It takes about 9 or 10 pages in Word. So I had to split up the chapter... ;) I'll post the next as soon as possible and believe me when I say that it might have even more fluff in it than this chappi... ;) Is there anything better than fluff...?  
Anyway (I love that word), it's 00:39 right now and I have to go to university tomorrow, so I should go and get some sleep now... I'd be happy to read some reaviews after I get up again ;) They're much better than the newspaper while eating breakfast ;) 


	10. Chapter ten Ice cold punishment

AN: giggles (I'm doing that a lot lately…) Well, I think this ist he first time I have no clue what to write in my AN… But ok, just one thing: Thank you very, very much for all your reviews :)! I'm soooo happy to get them!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon. S.Meyer does. Anyway, the plot of this fic is mine _/huggles the plot_/

* * *

**Chapter ten – Ice cold punishment **

"I won't run, Bella, why don't you believe me?" My angel asked me with his velvety voice.

I was a bit puzzled. "Huh? I didn't do anything."

"Well, you tightened your grip on the rope and my wrists, so…" I could hear amusement in his voice.

Blood gathered in my cheeks and made them red. "Well, you didn't say you wouldn't try… And furthermore: The girls would kill me if you'd escape."

That made him chuckle. "Yes, in fact, they would. To be honest: Lauren would like to kill you nevertheless, since _you_ are the one who has the honour to guard _me_. She's lucky I'm in a good mood and I don't take her serious." He added the last two sentences with sincerity in his voice and almost growling.

"As I said, never mind Lauren. I'm already used to her attitude towards me and I don't need any mind-reading-ability to know that she's still dreaming about you and her together." I shuddered because of that thought.

"Aren't you jealous?"

"To be honest, a little. But I know that you would never cheat on me." By now, I stood on my tip toes and from behind, I whispered into his ear: "I love you, Edward."

He bent his head a little towards me and whispered back: "I love you, too, Bella. Although you're holding me hostage right now."

I gave him a shove with a bit more force than the last time. Nevertheless, it felt like shoving a brick wall. "Hey, what was that for?" He asked as he made a big show of almost falling. I chuckled about that, it was just a too funny sight. "You really don't know how very deep in trouble you are, love…" His voice wasn't much more than a very quiet whisper.

By now, we had reached the other girls – and poor Mike – outside the cabin. They were gathered at the fire place and it looked like as if Alice was waiting for someone or something to happen.

"Was he already mean to you, Bella?" She asked with a grin on her face.

"No, I wasn't." Edward replied a bit too innocent.

"He was." I said and gave him one more little shove towards our group. Somehow, I enjoyed it to be the one with power, even though I really wasn't and Edward was just playing along.

Alice grinned once more in my direction, then she looked towards the boys' cabin.

"Tyler, Emmett! You've got to see that!" Eric was standing in front of the small building, disbelieve evident on his face. He was directly staring at our small group – well, mostly at Alice who was standing in front of us and then to Mike and Edward who were surrounded by our group.

A few seconds later, Emmett and Tyler appeared in their doorway. Tyler stepped out and positioned himself next to Eric. "What…?" He obviously tried to understand what he was seeing in front of him.

Emmett was just leaning relaxed against the doorframe, a huge grin plastered on his face, showing his white teeth.

"Edward? Mike? What are you doing there?" Eric asked warily.

Mike and Edward were clever enough not to ask for help, although Mike looked as he was on the edge of crying out for it. Jessica gave him a forceful shove to show him he would better not try to ask and Mike stumbled a bit forward. Angela had to hold him – he would have had a meeting with the floor if she hadn't.

Alice crossed her arms on her chest, stood in a relaxed position and began her explanation. "Edward and Mike were so _clever_ to sneak in our cabin this morning. We just wanted to show you what awaits those who try. Well, as you can see, my dear brother and Mike are not standing here out of free will. They will accompany us to a place which is maybe half an hour away from here, so you don't have to worry about where they are. They are in good hands – literally. Maybe, if they survive their punishment, they'll tell you about the horrors." She looked to Edward, then to Mike. "Any last wishes, boys?"

Both of them just glared at Alice.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emmett nod his head once. His grin was even wider than before but now he had an evil glint in his eyes, too. Edward blinked once, than looked back to Alice.

Did I imagine that? Or did Emmett and Edward really have a silent conversation? Oh no, if they had, that would mean trouble.

"Well, good luck, Mike, Edward…?" Emmett said with a smug grin.

The two boys in our middle just glared at him but said nothing. I think, they already figured out that speaking would be a mistake in the presence of Alice.

"Ok, since no one wants to make any last wishes or words… Let's go! And you!" She pointed towards Eric, Tyler and Emmett. "You better stay here. Believe me, I'll know if you want to start trouble!" She threatened.

Eric and Tyler stepped back a few feet, clearly feeling uncomfortable. I knew they wanted to help Mike – no point in helping Edward, they did not really like him – but apparently they thought it would be a bad idea to go against a group of crazy girls.

Jess and I gave our boys a shove so they would start going again. Lauren was at the front, leading the way away from the camping ground into the woods. Beside her was Alice. It seemed as if she tried to figure out whether everything went fine or if the three boys at the camp had tried to follow us. In the middle of our group, Angela and Jessica were shoving poor Mike all the time. They really enjoyed that.

In the back, it was just me and Edward. Why did everybody think I could watch after him on my own? I mean, at least Alice could come and help me, couldn't she?

We were about five minutes from the camp when I remembered Emmett's and Edward's strange behaviour. There was something fishy about that.

"Edward? What was that back at the camp?" I asked in the most innocent voice I could muster.

"What do you mean?" He asked back in a _very_ velvety voice. No, this time I had to fight against it – and that he really tried to use his power against me just certified my thoughts. He was up to something.

"Don't play stupid, I _saw_ Emmett nodding and your reaction. What did he tell you?" Although we weren't whispering, the others didn't seem to hear us. I thought they just had too much fun torturing Mike and scanning our surroundings.

Edward chuckled and stopped walking to turn around and look into my eyes.

"Don't you dare stop walking! There is no way I'll stay behind and be alone with you here and now." I wanted to sound threatening but it came out trembling. _Great_.

"Frightened? But ok, I'll do as you wish, my lady." He winked at me with a heart melting smile, then turned around and started walking again. We were now a few feet behind the group.

"You didn't answer my question, Edward." I said after a few minutes.

My hand was already a bit loosing on its grip of Edward's wrists and he took the chance to bend his hands a little and stroke my wrists with his long and cold fingers. I let him do it.

"Well, ok, I admit that Emmett and I had some kind of… conversation."

"About what?" I asked curiously.

Edward let out a low chuckle.

"As if I would tell you, Bella." He said while grinning.

"Why wouldn't you? I mean, I'm one of the girls who will decide how long you'll have to stand in the water… Trust me, I know that standing in it wouldn't be much of a punishment to you, but you'll have to listen to the thoughts of the other girls… Poor Edward, I'm happy _I_ don't have to suffer those thoughts…" I explained with a mischievous smile on my lips. To be honest: I didn't like other girls dreaming about my vampire and I knew that after this day, they would see him in a whole new light. Maybe they wouldn't even be able to sleep for a week – I already knew that I wouldn't be able to do that after seeing Edward in all his glory only wearing his swimming shorts.

"Before I give you the answer for that question: Why are you blushing, Bella?" He asked while letting out yet another chuckle.

I blushed? Oh, I hate it!

"I'm not blushing!" Hey, I was standing behind his back, he couldn't see me!

"Bella, I'm a vampire, I can _sense_ your nervousness and _hear_ your heart beats picking up speed." He sniggered in a low whisper.

"Cheater! And by the way: It's none of your business." Sometimes it's just not fair to have an almost all-knowing vampire as a boyfriend.

"Ah, ok. I already have a really good idea of what you're thinking… But anyway, I'd like to offer a deal to you, my love." This time, he wasn't whispering because no one needed to know that he was a vampire, no, this time no one needed to know what he wanted to tell me.

"A deal?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yes, a deal."

As I said nothing more, he continued: "Well, just say, I would tell you, what Emmett and I were _talking_ about."

He made a short pause to wait for my reaction, but since I was still quiet, he talked on. "That would be _my_ part of the deal. But obviously, there are always two sides of a deal: My side and your side. So, you'll get the information from me only if you are willing to complete your side of the deal."

"Since you make so many words without getting to the point: What would I have to do to get your piece of information?" I asked a bit impatient. Normally, he would tell _me_ to hurry up with what I want to say, so it felt kind of weird that Edward needed so many words for something like that. Or… Or maybe, he just wanted to buy some time? But for what?

Edward stopped once again and turned around to meet my gaze. During my inner ranting, I completely forgot to have a hold on his wrists and now he was standing in front of me, freed from my grip.

Oh, oh…

He knew my thoughts and gave me a big grin.

"Your part of the deal would be… Well… To keep it simple: untie my wrists and surrender to me. This way will be the only way for you to get out of trouble – not fully but at least a bit." He whispered with a playful growl and evil glint in his eyes.

All of a sudden, Alice appeared behind Edward and one of her hands shot to the point where my hand has been laying until a few minutes ago.

"Edward! Stop playing around with poor Bella. If you want to have any more trouble, ask _me_!" She scolded.

Edward answered by growling but his eyes were still locked with mine.

He was right, though. I knew I was in trouble but maybe my vampire boyfriend would have mercy with me if I'd help him…

Alice sensed my pondering. "Don't even start considering it, Bella, he's only trying to trick you!"

Edward gave me a wide grin, showing his teeth. "Do you really believe that, Bella?" He asked in his velvety voice.

I hesitated one more second, then reached around Edward to get my hold on his wrists back. I didn't say anything, though. I just looked into his eyes.

"Bella, I hope, you're still with _us_." Alice eyed me suspiciously, I could see it out of the corner of my eye.

"Trust me Alice, I am." I said simply while almost drowning in Edward's pools of liquid gold.

Edward still grinned at me but his grin lost it's faith of victory. Now, it was my turn to grin – although I could already feel that I would possibly pay for that decision later.

After Edward turned around and I had given him a soft shove towards the others, Alice went back to take the lead together with Lauren. I was alone with Edward again.

"You may still accept my offer, my love." He whispered conspirational.

I simply said: "I know." He did not have to know that I wasn't thinking about it anymore. I made my decision, now I had to live with its consequences.

Finally, we reached a small lake with a waterfall on its side. It wasn't a high one – maybe three meters, nothing more than that. The water was clear and reflected the scenery around the small lake like a mirror. It was beautiful.

So beautiful, that I forgot to keep my hold on Edward's wrists once again and of course, right in that moment I tripped over a root.

Oh, no.

I prepared for the fall, closed my eyes and put my arms in front of me so I could maybe stop before crashing on the ground, but two steel like arms wrapped around my waist and saved me.

"What…" I started as I opened my eyes again. Edward was standing besides me, holding me in his cold and strong arms, giving me a very warm smile.

"I did not have the heart to let you fall, my love." He said with a wink.

My eyes shot to the other girls while I hoped that they did not see what was going on behind their backs.  
I was lucky. There was quite a distance between us – the first time I was happy about it – and they seemed captured by the scenery. No one noticed Edward and me.

My beloved one set me on my feet again, still smiling. He took the chance and placed a kiss on my lips – it was only a few seconds long but still it felt like heaven. Our last kiss was just too long ago.

"We should join them now. Alice saw what was happening and she's not happy that I'm standing here like this now." He mentioned with a nod to his wrists. In his right hand, he held the rope which wasn't placed around his wrists anymore. "Although, she's happy for you that I was able to save you, so she didn't do anything _yet_."

Edward took his hands from my waist, put them behind his back and when he turned around, he had his wrist tied together again. I let out a low chuckle. To be honest: It was a rather loosely knot but it would serve the purpose. The other girls did not need to know that he was capable of freeing himself in seconds.

This time, he didn't need a shove to walk on and I didn't put my hand on his wrists but let it slide into Edward's hand. He closed his strong hand around my small one.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Lauren said with a dreamy look on her face.

"It's great. Although the water is _nasty_ cold." Alice said with a small grin playing on her lips as she held her bare foot into the water.

Everyone, except the two boys in our middle, snickered. I took a chance and glanced at Mike. To say he felt uncomfortable was an understatement. He'd run away and maybe even scream if he could. Edward was just… Edward. He played along and looked not happy about his situation. I stroked over his palm and a small smile flashed over his angelic face before he showed his fake frown again.

"Ok, girls and boys, that's our _waterfall_!" Alice announced merrily.

It was beautiful, just like the rest of the scenery. The water poured down from a maximum height of three meters and it splashed into a shallow part of the lake. The water was crystal clear and looked like a wall of flowing glass. Furthermore, at the point where the water hit the lake, it sprayed and there was even a small rainbow in it. The water was wadeable, it reached maybe up to the middle of Edward's shin.

"Wow." We all gasped in awe, even the two boys who would be standing under that waterfall in a few minutes.

Angela was the first to regain her voice: "Looks great."

"And it will look even better with those two boys in it." Lauren added with a smug grin on her face.

I felt Edward's grip on my hand tighten. I didn't think he would be scared about what awaited him, but I thought that Lauren's thoughts weren't the most pleasant to listen to. But probably, all our thoughts weren't. What I want to say is: She was right. You could cross Mike from the list, though, Edward alone would be great enough. I was sure: After this event, Mike's ego will fit underneath a carpet.

"Since we're here now, how long do you think the boys should suffer?" Jessica asked curiously.

There was a short silence as all of us mused about it.

"Hmm… Ten minutes, minimum." Alice proposed. "If they can stand it longer, fine. The first one getting out will be the _chicken of the trip_!"

Poor Mike.

"Nice idea, Alice." Jessica praised. "But… Do you think they should keep their clothes on? Don't get me wrong: Shorts are ok."

All of us girls sniggered about that comment but I could see Mike back away. Edward was brave enough to stay by my side.

"No way, Mike, you're staying with us." Jessica stated and with a soft kick in his knee bends, he went down to his knees. He looked pretty startled by that, as if he didn't know how he ended on the sand.

I could feel a chuckle growing in Edward's chest since I still had my hand close to it.

"Well, I think, Jess is right. I mean, we want to _see_ something, right girls?" Alice said with a smug grin. Somehow I wondered, whether that grin would become permanent…

Edward took in a deep breath and held it. Apparently, the thoughts of my fellow roommates went all in the same direction: Edward in shorts. To be honest: My own thoughts were somewhere along those lines, too…

I got my hold on the ropes back and led Edward to stand next to Mike, who was standing again. I really had to force my face only to show a small smile and not a huge grin like Alice's. Edward would most certainly not be pleased if he could read my mind that moment.

Jessica and I loosened the ropes from the wrists of _our_ boys but since they were with their backs to the water and we were standing in a semi-circle in front of them, there was no way for them to get out of their miserable state. After they were set free, Jess and I backed away until we were part of that circle, too. The two males in front of us rubbed their wrists – Mike's were quite red where the rope had been. Apparently, he had tried to struggle free more than only one time.

Edward looked suspiciously at Alice, then he grinned at me. Was it about something Alice had thought?

"Ok, guys, you heard us. Get off you clothes." Alice commanded.

Mike looked as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. He was clearly overpowered, he had to accept that.

Edward let out a low chuckle and closed his eyes for a moment as short as a heartbeat. He got out of his sandals in one swift movement and then he started to unbutton his shirt. Very slowly, he opened the first button right underneath his neck.

Mike was still hesitating. He knew he had to do what we demanded, yet he wasn't happy with Edward's reaction. Maybe he thought that Edward would chicken out? I had to smile about that. Even if he would have to listen to raving grils' thoughts, he would never chicken out in front of Mike.

So, after a few more hesitating moments, Mike too started to get off his clothes. He almost tripped as he tried to get out of his sandals – which plastered a smug grin on Edward's face – and the he started to unbutton his shirt. However, where Edward looked like a paid model while getting off his shirt, Mike was just trying to get rid of it.

To have at least one nice thought about Mike: Wouldn't Edward be standing here (and wouldn't I know Edward), one could easily think he was well build and maybe even quite hot.

But anyway, Edward _was_ standing there and he looked like a god. Maybe even more so now than anytime else, if that would be possible.

Button after button, the shirt exposed more from Edward's godlike and perfectly chiselled chest. I didn't know how it ended up there but suddenly – sometime around the third button of his shirt – my hand was covering my mouth. I had to take deep breath because naturally, I stopped breathing some time ago.

Edward was looking straight into my eyes and grinned. Maybe that was only my imagination but he got even slower while unbuttoning his shirt. Did he want to tease me? Well, if he wanted, he succeeded.

Inch after inch, more of his chest was exposed to the hungry eyes of us girls. In that moment, I just wanted them to disappear and the moment to freeze in time. I had seen his chest once more, at our meadow, but still it felt as if I'd see it the first time.

I was awestruck and he knew it.

"Wow… Look at _that_…" Lauren whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

I grinned but didn't dare take my stare from Edward. "Yes, and that boy is _all mine_." I whispered and bit down on my lip, but still: I had to say that. Better show her right away that she would never get a hand on _my_ Edward.

Edward heard our almost silent dialogue and gave me a wide but warm grin. His eyes seemed to sparkle and of course, I blushed furiously. But my eyes were locked with his, I couldn't look away – but did I want to? Not really.

That moment, Edward reached the last button and when he unbuttoned it, his shirt fell loosely from his shoulders. With one elegant movement, he took it off and a blink later, he sent it flying towards me. I didn't know how I did it but somehow, it landed it my arms. My cheeks were burning under the looks I got from my fellow roommates. Edward just chuckled and turned around to face the waterfall.

Oh, my… To be honest: It was the first time I saw his backside without any clothing hiding it.

He let his right shoulder move forward and backward once, as if he would have to loosen his muscles.

Show-off.

He only did that so that we girls – well, maybe even only I but I did not dare think that – would have something to ogle even more at.

His perfect body would make every angel jealous.

Mike was standingn next to him. He, too, was undressed by now – well, as undressed as they would get. Next to Edward, Mike was just… well… I wanted to think '_human'_ but that wasn't only the truth, it was too _nice_. Mike just couldn't compare to my personal god and I had to smile about that.

Mike didn't look happy. Apparently, all of us girls had watched Edward and not him – a slap in the face of his ego.

Edward let out a low chuckle. "What did you say this morning, Mike? '_They are only girls, what's the worst they could do'_? Well, apparently, they can make us stand under an icy waterfall for at least ten minutes without much more than our shorts… As I already told you: You set your foot in _hell_ by entering their cabin."

That comment made all of us laugh – all but Mike. He looked as if he had bitten into a lemon.

"Shut up, Cullen. You're nothing better than me, you're standing here now, too." He snapped.

"Well, I know. But trust me, _I_ won't become the 'chicken of the trip'." With that, he set one of his foots into the water in front of him and started walking to the small waterfall without even the slightest expression of how cold the water actually was. He was lucky to be a vampire.

Mike followed but again, he hesitated. He did not know what he could say to my beloved one, he was literally speechless. As soon as he set one foot in the water, Goosebumps started to show up on his skin and he put his arms around his chest so he could let the warmth stay in his body a bit longer.

Edward was already waiting a few feet in front of him, right before the waterfall.

"What? Do you already chicken out now, Cullen?" Mike teased but Edward just grinned back with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"No, but I have to wait until you are standing here, too. We will have to step under that waterfall _together_." He almost growled the last word, I could hear it even from where I was standing.

A few moments later, Mike reached the waterfall, too. Both reached out with their hands to test how cold the water would be and how strong it was coming from above.

Mike took back is hand almost immediately but Edward's hand remained a few seconds longer where it was. Then, he stepped right into the flowing water.

Mike shot him a glare.

"Come on Mike! When Edward can do it, so do you!" Angela cheered for Mike.

He took one last deep breath, then he was under the waterfall, too. Edward was already facing in our direction, standing completely relaxed with his hands in the pocket of his trousers while Mike struggled to keep standing where he was. He didn't want to be a coward in front of Edward but he had to be really hard to himself trying that.

A short time passed where everybody was just gaping at the scene which unfolded in front of them. Edward's eyes were closed and he was standing perfectly still – only the movement of his chest gave away that he wasn't a statue.

The other girls were ogling at him just like me. It was a good feeling to know that they would never get further than ogling from far away. Edward was mine and that would never change again – and 'never' was a long time when measured by eternity. Apart from the fact that he was mine, that was the next best thought: He was mine for all eternity. Somehow, I still had to get used to the fact that he seemed to accept that fact. _Eternity_… It conjured a smile on my face which replaced the grin I had before.

Edward moved again. Slowly, he got his hands out of his pockets and while his eyes were still closed, he folded his arms behind his head while still standing relaxed. That way, our eyes could easily take in every inch of his pale and breathtaking body. And it _was_ a breathtaking body, literally.

Just when he stopped his movement again, it happened.

Jessica and Lauren fainted.

Alice, Angela and I looked a bit puzzled at the two bodies laying at our feet and started laughing – Edward joined our laugher a few heartbeats later as he realized, what he had done to those poor humans.

As if he didn't _plan_ that.

"Well, _that_ was unexpected." Angela stated between two gasps of air.

"You don't need to tell me!" Alice choked out.

I just fell into a laughing fit. For once, it wasn't me who fainted, no, it was somebody else – and they even did it synchronously and in front of Mike and Edward.

As we leaned them on a nearby tree, Alice called out: "One minute left! You're better than I thought!"

Jessica and Lauren started to stir a few moments later. Both held their heads in the hands and groaned.

"What happened?" Jessica asked.

"Do you really want to know, Jess?" Angela said with a huge grin on her face.

"Yes…?" Well, that wasn't a very convincing 'yes', but anyway.

"You two fainted while ogling at Bella's boyfriend." Alice said with a smug smile plastered on her face.

I had to giggle when I saw that they were now blushing, too. Did I rub off on them?

Nevertheless, a few seconds later, they were again standing by our side, trying to avoid my gaze and concentrating hard on Mike. It was quite funny to watch them like that, but since I still had that godly creature to adore, I just let them do what they wanted to and made a mental picture of Edward. I wasn't going to forget this sight ever – even if I'd be a vampire for thousand years without many human memories left, I'd still see this in my mind. I was perfectly positive about that.

In that moment, Mike decided to throw the towel. He let out a sigh and stepped out of the waterfall, leaving Edward with a smug smile where he was standing and slowly made his way towards us.

Jessica greeted him with her towel as he reached us. She draped it around his chest and snuggled herself closer to him.

"12 Minutes, you're great, Mike." She whispered with a warm smile on her lips although he was frowning. I thought by then, she had forgotten the fainting-incident. Mike and Jessica were really cute when they forgot that there were others around them.

I looked back at Edward, who was still standing in the waterfall but when he opened his eyes again, he locked his gaze with mine, got out of the cold waterfall and walked towards me. I snatched my towel from a smiling Alice, knotted Edward's shirt around my waist, took off my shoes and stepped a few feet into the water towards my beloved vampire.

"It's cold, isn't it?" Edward asked.

"Maybe even a little colder than you are." I replied and draped my huge towel around Edward's shoulders and let it flow around his chest. His hair was dripping wet and even untidier than it normally was. Once again, I was ogling at the god like creature in front of me.

Edward stretched out his hand and when I took it, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"And I'm all yours." He whispered into my ear.

I snuggled myself closer to him so I could share my warmth with him. I was right about the coldness: Edward really felt colder than usual. But it didn't matter. I was perfectly content in his arms and when he lifted my chin with one of his long and slender fingers to pull me into a very long and quite passionate kiss, the world around us vanished and there were only both of us left.

"I love you, Edward." I said with closed eyes, standing on my tip toes as our kiss came to an end.

He leaned down so his lips were only an inch away from my ear. "I love you, too, Bella. And nothing will ever change that." He whispered.

His embrace tightened a bit as he held me close to his icy body.

When he released me eventually, I took an edge of the towel and stroked the remaining water droplets from his saintly face. He took my hand and kissed the back of it. "Thank you." His voice was nothing more than a breath, nevertheless I understood him.

The next moment, he picked me up bridal style. "I don't want you to catch a cold, my love." He laughed as he made the last steps towards the bank.

When we reached it, he made no move to set me down but I didn't say anything about it. It felt good to have him close to me again.

The other girls, minus Alice, looked as if they had stopped thinking. They just stared at Edward and me – Mike didn't like it one bit. His response was simple: He pulled Jessica into a hug. I felt a little pity for Jessica: Edward's hug was far more romantic than the hug of Mike could be.

"Well, ok, fifteen minutes. Congratulation, Edward." Alice said with a smug grin on her face. But as I looked into her eyes, I could see something was bothering her – although I couldn't put my finger on it.

Edward smiled and had an evil glint in his eyes.

Ok, that was it that troubled Alice. Edward was _free_ again and now she would have to be _very_ careful around him.

This reminded me… I'd have to do the same, too.

_Oh, no_.

"Since we're finished here, what about going back to the camping ground?" Alice proposed. She seemed to try to put as much distance between her and the waterfall as possible, and preferably soon.

But was the water really so cold that even a vampire would have troubles? I looked up and glanced into Edward's eyes. They held no answer to my question, though.

"Ok, let's go!" Jessica said merrily. Did she really think that our actions wouldn't have any consequences? I shuddered a bit as I thought that and Edward noticed it. He looked smiling into my eyes. I thought, he knew what I was thinking about.

I mentioned to Edward to let me down on my feet again and surprisingly, he did as I asked.

"Is it ok if Edward and I stay here for a few more minutes?" I whispered into Alice's ear.

She looked at me with amusement in her eyes. "Sure. But be careful, we don't know what he's up to, yet." She whispered almost inaudible.

"Thanks." I said. A few moments later, the girls and Mike were out of sight, hidden in the woods and hopefully on their way back to the camp.

I turned around and almost walked into Edward. He was already standing close behind me and let his arms sneak around my waist. The towel was still draped over his shoulders but by now, his body seemed dry, although his hair was still very wet.

"Do you really want to be with me alone after all those things that happened this morning?" He asked in his velvety voice.

I snuggled myself closer to him. "Yes. And… Edward?" I asked after a short hesitation.

"Yes, my love?"

"I…Well… I have to talk to you." There was still that thought of Edward and Mike alone in the woods from yesterday walking through my mind and I felt I should tell him.

Edward's hands started stroking my back and as I looked up to meet his gaze, he was smiling a very warm smile down on me.

"Emmett already gave me a hint that you may want to talk about something, though he didn't specify why or what."

I sighed and hid my face in his chest. He already knew?

"Don't worry, Bella. Although I didn't look in his mind, I have a feeling I already know what you want to talk with me about." He tilted my head up once more and gently kissed me.

"Come with me. Some things are better told while sitting." He said, his smile never leaving his face.

It gave me a bit self-confidence. As it seemed, he wasn't angry and hopefully, he wouldn't be after I'd tell him about my fears.

Edward put one hand around my waist and led me to a fallen tree, only a few feet away from the edge of the forest. He took the towel from his shoulders and laid it on the dead trunk, sat down on the tree with his back leaning on another tree. Then, he pulled me into his lap, cradling me close to his body, securely holding me in his strong arms.

"What troubles you, Bella?" He asked in his velvety voice and I had to take in a deep breath.

Ok, now… Where to start?

* * *

AN: My computer crashed 36 times as I wrote this chapter, great, isn't it? Ah, and by the way: Trust me, this will be the longest chapter, from now on, they'll be shorter again ;) Just to think that I had wanted to be the last chapter, this one and the next chapter ONE chapter... Was I crazy?  
Anyway, please tell me what you think about it :) 


	11. Chapter eleven Talk

AN: There is one thing I hate about my computer: He crashes in the stupidest moments. I have the auto-save function now on 2 minutes – great, isn't it? Gnaaa… NEVER touch a running system! (In my case, I had to update my graphic-card-drivers -.- ) Why is it always me…?Ah, and I have Office 2007 now, yay ) I installed it 10 minutes ago (3 computer-crashes happened during that) and now everything looks nice X) Design Usability X)! (yes, I really like nice designs…)

Anyway. Sorry that I let you wait for this chapter. I really tried my best to update as soon as possible but my computer did not want me to do it. If you want, you may hit him.

Stop the ramble, on with the chapter. (by the way: 11 pages again -.- I can't stop myself...)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and New Moon. S. Meyer does.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Talking**

I leaned back on Edward's chest and let him hold me close. It felt good and somehow, it calmed my nerves. I took in a deep breath. Hopefully, he wouldn't be angry after what I wanted to tell him – or even have this sad look on his face whenever he '_remembered'_ what he really is. I never had a problem with him being a vampire and I was positive that I would never have. Nevertheless, he never stopped thinking of him as a soulless monster.

He took one of his hands from my waist and reached for my hand. I let it slip into his strong hand while he started rubbing soothing circles on its back. We were already sitting here since some time but he hadn't asked one of his '_what are you thinking about_?'-questions yet. Somehow I wondered why but simultaneously, I was happy that he gave me some time to bring my thoughts into a comprehendible order.

"Well…" I began "It is somehow about yesterday… When you were in the woods with Mike."

He didn't say anything but I couldn't feel him tense under me either. So I continued. "Emmett and the others were already back at our camp, setting up the fireplace. But somehow… I got a strange feeling in my gut when you didn't return with Emmett."

I felt him nod behind me but still he didn't say anything.

"I thought, something might have happened… That, well, that Mike got himself into some kind of… _trouble_." I felt so stupid. I hadn't trusted him as much as I normally do and I was ashamed by that. Tears were building up in my eyes and I blinked several times to make them go away again.

Edward tightened his grip around my waist so I was even closer to him than I already was.

"You mean that he would have cut himself in whichever way and that he was bleeding?" He asked calmly. Somehow, I still could feel a smile in his words.

I just nodded my head. My voice would have come out trembling, I was sure about that.

"Furthermore, you thought that I would attack him if he was bleeding, am I right?" He asked while he continued to stroke circles on the back of my hand.

I did not really know what to say about that so I just went with the truth. "I'm sorry Edward, I am feeling so stupid right now…" Tears were starting to run down my face. I didn't want to upset Edward with my stupid thoughts but…

"Shh, it's ok, Bella." He soothed. He angled his right leg and then I wasn't only hold securely by his arms, but his leg, too. It relaxed me a bit and I felt secure.

"I already thought that you would get to think along those lines sooner or later. Somehow, I'm relieved that it was now." He continued after he felt me calming down a bit. "I am truly sorry that I scared you, my love and don't feel embarrassed or think that you didn't trust me enough. Bella, you have more faith in me than I could ever ask for. You accept me the way I am for _who_ I am and not _what_. I really have to thank you for that and you can't believe how much your trust means to me."

I could feel him kiss my hair on the back of my head. He took his arm from around my waist and pulled me down on him until I completely relaxed and let my head lay on his chest. I closed my still wet eyes as he continued on after putting his arm around my waist once more.

"I can understand your way of thinking. Well, I can't read your minds and to be honest, I don't think that I will ever be able to do so, but as far as I understand what you told me, you were frightened that I would kill that boy."

He felt me stiffen but now he began to stroke over the fabric on my belly and it calmed me once more. It was a miracle to me how he was always able to do that to me.

"Bella, I want to promise you something. I will _never_ kill a human again if I can stop myself. Maybe there will come a time where I can't, I don't know: Eternity is a _very_ long time. But as long as you're with me, you're giving me the strength to stop my inner demon. Since I met you, I was able to find parts of my human self which I had forgotten for a very long while. Every time I'm with you, those parts become stronger and I am able to fight the monster inside me more. I don't want to lie to you: Human blood will probably ever be a temptation for me and there are times when it will be harder to resist than during other times. But I promise I will never drink from a human again, unless I can't stop myself or it is _your_ certain wish. I'd do anything for you, my love." He whispered that last sentence directly into my ear.

I couldn't say anything. He said his words with so much sincerity, it was hard to concentrate on a coherent reply. One or maybe two heartbeats after his promise, I lifted my hand he had in his own one to bring his hand to my lips. Gently, I placed a kiss on its back.

"I don't want you to kill anyone… Not even if I'd say so." I managed to whisper after some time. My voice was probably an inaudible whisper for human ears but nevertheless, Edward was able to hear it.

"I know." He said simply. I could hear the love he put into those words.

After a few more minutes, something seemed to cross his mind. "Bella, you know that I don't like Mike and certainly, I never will. He is just some hormone-driven boy and nothing more. As far as possible, I ignore him. Although trust me: He deserves to be growled at. No one has the right to think things like he does about you. But as I said: He is just a boy, not even an especially strong or even _smart _one. There's no need for me to hurt him – at least not physically. I have to admit, it's rather fun to shatter his ego, though."

I had to chuckle about that and a heartbeat later, he joined me. I thought to myself, that I knew _one _person who may think whatever he liked to think about me... Thinking that, I blushed a bit.

I bent my head to one side and closed my eyes just because I wanted to take in his scent. It was so calming…

Hi lifted his hand from my own one and began to trail an invisible path up and down my exposed neck. His icy touch sent chills down my spine, but only minor ones. I felt like being paralyzed but not in a bad way.

"I love you, Bella." He whispered into my ear, his voice like the gentle flow of water.

"I love you too, Edward." I replied without opening my eyes.

The moment was perfect.

A while later, I had lost the feeling for time, I felt Edward chuckle underneath me. I slowly opened my eyes.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

He readjusted himself and now, I was practically caged in his arms and legs. Apart from my neck and head, I wasn't able to move anymore. Somehow, it gave me a strange feeling. What was he up to?

"Well… I was just remembering the scene at the waterfall, nothing more." He sniggered.

I joined his light mood. "Yes, that was priceless…" I mused without much thinking. I _knew_ what he would ask after that.

"Priceless? What do you mean by _'priceless'_?" He asked, humor evident in his voice.

"Well, to be honest: Everything." There was no point in lying to him, I knew he would get the truth out of me somehow.

He was silent for a heartbeat and probably, he was thinking about what to say. "Did you like what you saw?" He asked and I didn't have to see his face to know there would be a _very_ smug smile on his lips.

I couldn't hide a grin from appearing on my face. "Well… What would you do if I'd say '_no'_?"

I felt him chuckle beneath me. "First, I wouldn't believe you, my dear. And second…" With one swift movement, he put his hands left and right from my belly – although his hands remained above the thin fabric, he knew that I was most ticklish there.

"Ok, ok, ok, _please_ don't do _that_." I begged.

He tightened his grip on me once more, pulling me close to him again. "So?"

"You looked absolutely breathtaking, Edward." I whispered and of course, I blushed furiously as soon as the words had left my mouth.

One of his cold hands trailed again up to my neck and began stroking it once more. "I'm glad to hear that." He whispered into my ear in a _very_ seductive voice.

"But Edward… I didn't expect you to… Well…"

Once again, he chuckled. Apparently, he was in a _very_ good mood these days. "To show what I'm able to do to you humans?"

I bit on my lower lip. Sometimes it really felt like he could read my mind. "Well, yes?"

His long and cold finger stroke up and down my neck and I let my head fall a bit to the side, exposing more of it. He hesitated in his movement for a short moment and I thought he would pull away again, that I crossed one of his boundaries, but he continued.

"Humans are so easily manipulated. A word, even a slight movement of my kind can let them forget all of their resistance towards us. I don't know why we have to have so many weapons, you couldn't do anything about even only _one_ of them." He sounded as if he was deep in thoughts and somehow, I shivered. He felt it and placed a gentle kiss on my head.

"My family may not use our… _abilities_ to hunt humans, but sometimes, it is a good feeling to know what we can actually do to those around us. And if they get on our nerves, it's an even better feeling to let them taste a bit of our power without them knowing what happens to them." He let out a low chuckle as he said the last sentence.

I could understand him, though. "The thoughts of us girls weren't the most innocent, am I correct?" I asked with a slight smile playing around my lips.

After a short hesitation, he answered. "Correct. You are lucky that you are not able to read minds, trust me. The whole time – from the moment that boy and I sneaked into your cabin until we stood under that waterfall, those girls had numerous scenarios running through their head what they'd do to me if they could get me into their hands. Believe me when I say that it was quite… _Disturbing_." After a short pause, he added: "Wait a moment. Did you say '_the thoughts of us girls_'? Could I be correct assuming that you had similar thoughts running through your head?"

I chose to ignore that last question – although he could probably guess from the warmth radiation from my face what the answer would be – and asked one that bothered me since some time.

"Why did you sneak into our cabin, anyway? I mean, you are able to read minds and can probably hear a deer standing in the forest, munching on grass from a _mile_ away – and there were five quite noisy girls in that room right next to you. You had four minds to read so you could prepare for what was going to happen, yet you chose to sneak in. Why?"

"First: Bella, if you'd think that I'd forget that you didn't answer my last question, you are wrong. But ok, I will ask that at a later point of time again." _Oh, no…_ "Second… Well, yes, you're right, although I won't tell you how good my hearing actually is. Just say that it is pretty good and better than you think." He made a short pause and I could practically feel him grin behind me.

"About sneaking in… Well, I really was honest with you: I was curious. But about the hearing and mind-reading thing… Bella, I have spent a whole night in a cabin full of immature, hormone-driven boys with only one thought in different variations in their minds: Girls. Especially you girls and to be even more precise: _You_." He let out a low growl as he seemed to remember the thoughts of the boys last night. "The thoughts coming from the most of you girls weren't the most interesting either. Mostly stuff about our scary stories and how they wanted to impress us today when we want to go swimming. Well, ok, there was actually one pretty funny part…"

"When Emmett tried to scare us?" I asked as he did not continue.

"Exactly. He succeeded, didn't he? He really had fun doing that."

"Yes and trust me, the next time I get him between my fingers, I'll try to suffocate him." I grumbled.

Edward just hugged me and tried to stifle his laugher. He failed. "You can try that, if you want. Tell me if you succeeded, then you could do something I wish I could."

"But you didn't tell me why you didn't listen in on our thoughts." I reminded him.

"Bella, if you would have to listen to all those immature thoughts, trust me, you would try and tune them out as far as possible, too. It was even quite quiet in my head after that try, although I could still hear some kind of a noise in the back of my head. I didn't think about listening to you girls until I was already standing in your cabin and saw that you weren't in your beds."

I grinned. "And that's the tale how five girls could surprise an all-hearing and quite all-knowing vampire…" I whispered.

"Hey!" Edward complained and let his hands once again slid to the sides of my belly. "Don't get too cocky, my dear."

"But I'm right, am I not?" I asked with as much innocence in my voice as I could muster. Hopefully, Edward wouldn't tickle me, I still remembered the last time… It sent chills down my spine.

He let out a sigh. "Yes, you are right. Nevertheless, that won't happen ever again." He said with determination in his voice.

I struggled a bit against his grip until he loosened it a bit, then I turned around and was laying on his still bare chest once more – this time, I could see into his eyes. He had slid down from his sitting position and was now laying down, too, his back on the tree trunk. Edward smiled down into my eyes and let his arms sneak once again around my waist, his legs held me securely in place. Knowing me, I knew I would have fallen down if he wouldn't hold me.

"But Edward?" I said while crossing my arms over his chest, letting my head rest on them. It was good to know that I couldn't suffocate him – and that he probably wasn't even feeling my weight.

"Hmm?" He replied, a warm smile on his lips.

"Thank you for playing along." I whispered, smiling back into his golden eyes.

His smile widened and his eyes started to twinkle. "I didn't have the heart to break free and just go away – let alone the fact that Mike would call me a coward for the rest of the trip, probably even longer. An in addition… It was just too cute how you were kneeling over me. I was quite concerned about your heart rate then." He let out a laugh and closed his eyes. Naturally, I blushed.

"Oh, you have no idea how I felt, Edward. I really could have killed Alice in that moment." Nevertheless, I joined in his laugher.

After we calmed down a bit, he lifted my chin with his hand and let his gaze smolder into mine. "But even so, you had pretty much fun, hadn't you?"

Since I was pretty much dazzled by him, I spoke without much thinking. "Well, yes."

"And you really enjoyed _shoving_ me. Trust me, I won't forget _that_." He added while still laughing as I made a short pause.

I tried to look away but I was captured by his eyes. I could feel my cheeks heat up. "Hey, what else could I have done ? I mean, I couldn't be nice to you all the time, what would the girls have thought?"

"They already thought that you were too nice to me. Especially Lauren. I'm thankful that it wasn't _she_ who had her hand where you had yours – well, most of the time. You zoned out quite often, didn't you realize it?"

"What do you mean…?"

"Your grip was rather loosely." He stated while smiling.

"You are a _vampire_, I don't think that you would even notice my grip on your wrist if I would use as much force as I can muster. And in addition: If you wanted to, you could have run away any time, there was no real sense in having a tight grip on you." Well, that would have been a nice speech if my voice hadn't trembled. _Great_.

"Ok, you've got a point there." He bent his head and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

We just stayed like this for quite some time. I didn't knew how late it was or how much time had passed as he raised his voice once again.

"But you didn't tell me yet, Bella." He said. I had my head laying on his chest, my eyes closed, so I couldn't see the expression on his face. Nevertheless, he sounded… amused?

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"About the fact that you said '_we girls_' as I mentioned the… not really innocent thoughts of your fellow roommates." I felt him chuckle beneath me.

Once again, my cheeks felt warm. "Uhm… Well…" What should I say? '_I was thinking how hot you looked while posing in the waterfall_'? Yeah, great idea, best thing to tell his vampire boyfriend. He would probably start thinking that my thoughts were as swallow as a puddle…

He felt my uneasiness and stroke up and down my back. "Tell me, Bella, I won't laugh." He pleaded.

"Yes, you will. And probably, you'll think that I'm just as stupid as the other girls." I mumbled.

He bent down and kissed my head once more. "I would never compare you to those… _girls_, my love. And trust me, I will _never_ think that you are stupid."

I looked up into his topaz orbs and sighed. "Well… At first, that is from the point where you sneaked into our cabin until the waterfall, I just thought along those lines '_He's going to kill me for this'_. Not literally, I mean."

He smiled his crocked smile down on me and I lost my train of thoughts.

"And at the waterfall?" He asked with the most beautiful smirk on his lips as I didn't go on with my story.

"At the waterfall… Well, I just wanted those other girls to disappear, including Mike…" I whispered as I started to draw random patterns on his perfectly chiseled chest and shoulders with the tip of my index finger. My whisper was so low that even I had problems to hear what I was saying, however, Edward was able to understand me.

He put one of his cold hands on the side of my face and I leaned against it. "That's quite the same thing I was thinking while standing in that nasty cold water…" His voice wasn't much more than a breath.

Now it was my time to let out a low chuckle. "It wasn't really cold, was it? I mean, you are pretty chilly yourself… And by the way: why did you think something like that?"

"Bella, the water was practically icy. I may be a vampire but I still have the sense for temperature. I could have stood there _much _longer, yes, but it wasn't actually a nice feeling – more like standing in a bowl of crushed ice. I was surprised that Mike endured the temperature for over ten minutes, I didn't think he would stand it for more than three. And about what I thought… Well… I could care less about the thoughts of those girls, your gaze on me was all I needed to stay where I was."

He picked me up and brought me up so that our lips could meet in a long and gentle kiss.

"I'm glad you liked what you saw." He whispered as he pulled back eventually.

I released a low giggle as he put me down on his chest again, his hands and arms once more on my back. I began to gently trail my fingers from his bare chest over his perfect shoulders up to his upper arm and back. "I still like what I see, Edward." I admitted while blushing. His skin felt like silk and stone, hard but at the same time soft. The feeling of his skin under my fingers made me smile.

"Apparently, I already figured that out, my love. Although I still don't understand that you are not frightened of what you see… I could smell the anxiety of Lauren, Angela, Jessica and Mike when we were at the waterfall, although they surly didn't know why they felt that way themselves. But anyway, somehow I am happy that you're not scared. Even though it's a miracle to me."

"Well, I think, we already figured out that I'm a freak when we had our first… _meeting_ in Port Angeles." I remembered.

He had to stifle a laugh. "In fact, we did, although I still don't think that you are a '_freak'_. You were more frightened about my driving than about me – believe me: that gave me something to think about."

"I still am, Edward. You're driving like a maniac." I said and kissed his chest beneath me. He let out a very low sound of pleasure and I had to smile. It was nice to know that I could do something like that to him without crossing any boundaries.

We laid there once more for an immeasurable amount of time. I could hear the wind blowing softly over us in the treetops and there were several birds singing all around us.

"I could stay like this forever…" I sighed as I snuggled myself against Edward.

There was a short pause, then he answered: "There will come a time that we will able to do that without having to worry about the passing time, my love." He whispered. Then, he kissed my forehead with a gentle kiss.

It made me smile. "Do you promise that, Edward?" I asked.

"I promise, my love. Nothing is going to separate us ever again, not even death itself." He whispered into my ear and I could hear that he was certain about it.

He tightened his grip around my waist and chest and once more, there was silence between us.

"Bella!" A well-known female voice called. Alice?

"Bella?! Oh, please, Bella, come to me, we have to leave _now_!" There was a certain urgency in her voice and I didn't like it one bit. What happened? Did she have a vision? Was Victoria on her way here? That last thought sent chills down my spine. Hopefully, that wasn't the cause of her appearing.

I tried to get up from Edward and say something, but he covered my mouth with one of his hands while he pushed me down on him with his other hand. "Calm down, love, nothing happened and nothing is going to happen to you – if you remain calm." He whispered while grinning.

I was confused, to say the least. What was going on?

"There you – Oh no!" I could hear Alice's voice on my right hand side but Edward didn't let me look away.

"Edward, _please_, let her go." She begged. I didn't understand the situation.

"Alice, calm down. Nothing's going to happen to Bella, _yet_." He took his gaze from me so he could look at his sister. "But I won't let her get away with the way she behaved towards me this morning so easily."

Oh, no, _please_ not now. Couldn't he just forget about it? But at least I knew now why Alice was acting that way.

I wanted to say something but his hand was still holding my mouth shut. Edward grinned a _very_ evil grin.

"Furthermore, my dear little sister: It was a _very_ stupid idea to come here all on your own, don't you think so?"

I could see Alice from the corner of my eye now. Her eyes were wide and she covered her mouth with one of her small hands. She looked as if she had forgotten a very obvious thought: Edward was after _her_ maybe even more than _me_.

"Oh, no…" Now it was her part to say what I was thinking several times before in a situation just like this. "No, Edward, don't do anything stupid." She was acting as if she was frightened. Well, I guessed that she actually _was_ frightened – she had a reason to be.

Edward looked down into my wide eyes again and smirked. Then, after a movement too fast for my eyes, I was laying with my back on the soft soil of the forest, pinned down by Edward who was crouching above me. I let out a little squeak and he winked at me. It didn't hurt to fall from the trunk and hit the ground, nevertheless I was startled.

"Sorry, Bella…" I heard Alice mumble and when I looked in her direction, she was already backing away, preparing to run. Did she really want to leave me on my own here and now? But then, I spotted a huge dark… _being_ several yards behind her. Oh, no, Emmett was here.

"Alice! Behind you!" I managed to get out, but it was already too late. Edward had to stifle a laugh as we could hear Alice squeak in surprise, when she hit Emmett. Obviously, she didn't expect him to be here. First, she didn't get the silent conversation between Edward and his brother, now this. Something had to be wrong with her, I was positive about that.

"Do you really want to leave us so soon, dear sister?" Emmett asked, a huge grin on his face. Although I couldn't see the expression on her face, I was sure she was seeking for an escape route. She fell into a crouched position, just like a cat when it's preparing to strike.

"Emmett, get out of my way." She tried to sound threatening but even to me it didn't sound like something more than a fearful wish for a miracle.

I saw Edward make a movement with his head, then Emmett came nearer towards Alice. She backed away a bit but when she remembered that Edward was only a few yards behind her, she stopped in her movements.

"Emmett, I didn't do anything to you, why do you want to help Edward with his revenge?" She tried to reason. I had to bite down my lip so I wouldn't start to laugh. I never saw Alice so scared of her own brothers. I knew they wouldn't really harm her.

Edward gazed down to me again, giving me a crocked smile. I couldn't help it, I smiled back. Even if I had to face my punishment soon, I knew I couldn't do anything against it. So, why should I try and struggle against him? He sensed my train of thoughts and relaxed a bit.

"Alice, Bella is already a good girl and knows how to behave, you could learn a lesson from her." Edward said while grinning towards Alice's back.

"Oh, come on, Bella, don't be a coward, you could at least try to fight him off." She pleaded while having Emmett still in her facing direction.

"Tell me a promising way and maybe I'll try?" I offered. Edward gazed down on me, one brow raised and grinning.

Alice turned around to look at me. She had a look on her face that told me what she was thinking: _Is Bella crazy_?

But turning around was a mistake and Alice realized that a few moments to late.

Emmett lunged himself at his sister. Not even a heartbeat later, she was pinned down on the soil just like me, only that she was facing the ground and I was facing Edward. I preferred my position.

"Emmett! Get off me! Now!" She struggled against Emmett's iron like grip. Unconsciously, I tried to back off a bit, away from the two fighting vampires. Edward sensed my movements and a second later, I was sitting in his lap on the fallen tree. He was holding me close to his icy chest – again there was no way for me to escape.

"Don't be scared, it will end soon. Alice can't stand a chance against Emmett." He whispered in my ear.

He was right. Alice's movements became more desperate with every second ticking by and eventually, her resistance subsided and she sighed in defeat. Emmett waited another moment, than he took her arms and crossed them behind her back. She wouldn't be able to stand up on her own now, that was clear.

"Sorry Alice. Just to answer your question what I have to do with Edward's plan of revenge… Well, on the one hand, I was kind of bored, having to stay with the humans. On the other hand… You kind of threatened me last night when I had a little fun around your cabin." Emmett told his sister. She was clearly in a huff now but didn't try to fight against her brother once more – although I felt she really wanted to.

"Emmett? Since Alice was so nice to spare a second walk up to this place later, we should use this chance. Get her up and let's head back to that nice little waterfall…" Edward's voice dripped of fake innocence. Oh, no, please not the waterfall…

I took in a deep breath and Edward felt me stiffen in his iron like grip. He chuckled a bit. He knew I was at his mercy and I couldn't do anything against it.

Emmett picked Alice up in one swift movement and slung her over his shoulder. Now, she tried to struggle once again but Emmett simply ignored her.

"_Please_, let me down, _please_!" She begged. Maybe I should start begging soon, too…

One arm still around my waist and Emmett with Alice behind us, Edward led the way back to the waterfall. My shoes were still laying on the soft sand next to the water's edge and Edward came to a stop only inches away from the cool water. I tried to back off but he held me firmly by his side and grinned widely.

"Emmett, since you were already watching Mike and me, I think, you know what I have in my mind for poor little Alice." Edward said. Wait a moment: Emmett has been here, too? And Alice hadn't sensed him? What was going on with her?

"Of course, Edward." Emmett grinned. He held Alice by her wrists above her head so she couldn't run away – she surely would do that as soon as she got the possibility. She tried to kick him but he parried her kicks easily with his free hand. Poor Alice…

Emmett strode through the water without showing how cold it was and when he reached the waterfall, he held Alice away from him so she was almost touching the cold water behind her back.

"Alice… The next time you've got such a glorious idea of making fun about you brother, you should think about the consequences." Edward said in a voice sweet like honey.

He gave Emmett a nod and his brother stepped forward, holding Alice now right inside the cold water. I heard her squeak and felt pity with her. _Please, don't do that to me, too, Edward_,_ please_… Nevertheless, I got the feeling that I would experience the coolness of the water myself – and pretty soon, too.

"How long?" Emmett asked over his shoulder.

"Just a moment longer. I endured that water over ten minutes and she's not even two minutes in there." Edward said.

He felt my uneasiness and let out a chuckle once more. "Don't be scared, Bella. I won't do that to you, trust me. I'll find another way for revenge…"

Did he want me to feel save after that statement or make me even more scared? But now, I was just too relieved to think about anything. I dreaded the cold water.

One moment later, he nodded towards Emmett and his brother took Alice out of the waterfall again. The small, female vampire was completely soaked. If looks could kill, Emmett and Edward would be dead right now – never mind the fact that they already were.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Alice. You already had the vision to this event, you shouldn't even be surprised." Edward chuckled. "And no, I have to disappoint you. You are the only one to feel the icy water for now. I chose to have mercy on Bella since she knew how to behave and be a good girl. I'll find another punishment for her."

Alice said nothing but shook her body so she could get rid of the water still flowing down from her hair. Edward let out a laugh. "Alice, you are mean, you know that. It's not my fault Jasper isn't here to safe you. But I'm pretty sure he'll get his revenge once we get home again." Apparently, Edward had replied to one of her thoughts. He held out my towel which he had snatched from the tree trunk when we headed back to the waterfall and held it out to Alice. By now, even she was smiling, although she tried to hide it.

After she had dried herself off, we headed back to our camp. Emmett had told us that it was already noon and we wanted to go swimming together.

Edward and I got our shoes and followed the other two vampires back to the camp.

Then, I remembered something. I began to unknot Edward's shirt from my waist, but he put one hand over my own ones.

"Keep it for a while, love." He whispered very seductively into my ear. It made me smile.

* * *

Yepp, that's the chapter. I'm curious how long the next chapter will be, I thought this would only take 4-5 pages... But nevermind.

Thanks for all the reviews I got so far! You're great :)! Would be nice to know what you think about this chapter, too...


	12. Chapter twelfe Swimming

AN: Writer's block, nothing else… Sorry / But finally, I found time and the oomph to write is finally back Thanks for staying with this story for so long ;) I hope, I won't disappoint you with the next chapters J

I didn't read any messages, comments and so on since the last update, sorry. I'll do that as soon as this chapter is finished ;)

Ah, and before I forget: Remember: This story is about a camping trip with some of Bella's human (more or less) friends and some Cullens… Maybe that'll bring part of your memory back. If not: Just reread the lastone or two chapters... Maybe you'll smile as you remember those(At least that would make me happy )

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or New Moon, S. Meyer does.

-------

**Chapter twelve – swimming**

We were on our way back to the camping ground and I snuggled myself closer against my beloved vampire. I had my arms draped around his bare chest – his skin felt unbelievably smooth under my touch. He had one of his arms sneaked around my waist, holding me close to him. Since he was close to me for some time, his skin didn't feel as icy as usual and it made me smile. He liked my warmth and I was happy that I could share it with him.

I let out a low sigh of pleasure. It was a really good idea that I went with all of them on this trip.

"What are you thinking about, love?" Edward asked while gazing down into my eyes.

"Oh, nothing in particular. I'm just happy that I agreed to join in on this trip." I knew I could have teased him but I didnt want to ruin his good mood.

Alice turned around, facing Edward and me. "We told you, it wouldn't be so bad. The next time you _may_ consider believing me." She said with a wink and grin.

"Yah, I will, Alice." I agreed. I would never believe her if she'd say I'd enjoy a shopping trip, though. It would just be a lie, I was sure about that. 

We could already see the end of the forest and the small cabins around the fireplace by then. Although we had walked for at least half an hour, it felt like ten minutes.

"Alice? Can you tell me how late it is?" I asked the female vampire in front of me, who was actually poking Emmett since at least five minutes. He chose to ignore his little sister, which made her only more determined in her poking. Somehow, it was a funny sight that made me giggle.

She turned around one more, a huge grin on her face. "The last time I checked, it was noon. It's not later than one or two, I think, but I forgot to bring my watch along since I wanted to arrive in time before… Well… Before Edward would do something stupid, like workingout his revenge on you."

I could feel Edward chuckle about that.

Alice gazed back to Emmett, starting her poking all over again. "But apparently, I didn't arrive as soon as I hoped I would. Emmett, how did you manage to sneak around me? I mean, don't get me wrong, I know that you're a vampire, but you a huge, compared to the others in the camp and I _can _see into the future. I thought I would have noticed you…" With those words, she spoke out what I was already thinking for some time.

With a movement too fast for my eyes, Emmett snatched Alice's finger and held it in his huge hand. Alice looked pretty surprised and Emmett laughed. "Alice, you may be observant, but I am fast. I was already somewhere around the waterfall when you arrived, so you couldn't find me on my way there…"

"And the humans didn't suspect anything? I mean, why you were suddenly gone?" I asked. Somehow it felt funny how I grew more and more accustomed to call the others around me "humans" rather than to use their names…

"Bella, do I look like I don't know what I do?" He grinned back at me. "Eric and Tyler didn't suspect a thing. I think they were a little relieved that I was gone, actually. They act a little… intimidated around me." He winked at me and I had to grin.

That statement made me laugh. Poor Tyler and Eric, I could totally understand them. 

A few minutes later, we were already standing in the middle of the camping ground.

"Bella, come with me, we have to get ready for the lake. I can hear the others, they seem to have fun." Alice said.

I, too, could hear them. Especially Jessica – she seemed to have a laughing fit. A very loud and squeaky one, if I may add.

Alice took my hand and I let Edward go. I did not want it, but the faster I was ready, the faster I'd be back.

After a last kiss on my forehead, Edward let me go. "I'll wait here." 

I could see Emmett walk towards the boy's cabin, then Alice and I reached our own.

"I hope you didn't forget your bikini, Bella!" Alice grinned in my direction, while she dug through the small mountains of her clothing.

As if I could forget that. How Edward had looked at me the one day I tried it on…

"Bella, why are you blushing?" Alice broke out in a long laugh.

"Uhm… I'm not?" Ok, I'm a terrible liar. But anyway, I fished the two parts of my bikini out of my bag and snatched a new towel. The old one was already soaked in cold water. I put Edward's shirt on my bed and turned around to face Alice.

She was giving me an impish grin. "You are as red as a tomato, my dear Bella. But ok. I think, I already figured out what you were thinking about. Let's head to the bath-cabin!" She, too, took a towel from her bag, then we headed out, towards the bathroom-building.

As we crossed the empty space between the two cabins, Edward showed me a loving smile but as his eyes fell on the two pieces of fabric over my arm, his smile became a crocked one. Once again, I blushed.

Alice and I went into separated small changing rooms. It took me some time to get out of my partly wet clothes and into the bikini. I looked into the mirror on the wall and a small smile conjured itself on my lips. The navy blue bikini fit me perfectly and Edward was right: The color looked pretty good on me.

I folded my clothes, put them into a small bag I brought with me and picked up the towel.

"Alice, are you ready?" I asked when I went by her changing room.

"We are already outside, Bella!" Alice called. Of course. How could I think that I would be faster than a vampire? 

I pushed the sturdy old door open and before my eyes adjusted to the light – it was brighter outside that inside of that cabin – I stepped out to meet the others.

I stopped dead in my tracks, when I saw them, though.

In front of me were three models. No. Not even models. Way better than that. Once more the word "god" sprang into my mind. Alice wore a bikini, too, but it was deep red with orange ornaments on its sides. Emmett was standing next to her, his hands in the pockets of his long and dark green swimming shorts. Edward was on Alice's other side, just looking as gorgeous as when I had last seen him a few minutes ago.

I would have liked to turn around, go back into that stupid cabin and hide myself somewhere dark. I remembered what I had seen in the mirror several moments ago and shifted quite nervous on my feet. It was just one of those many moments that I realized that I was just a plain and ordinary girl next to some gods.

"You look great, Bella." Emmett complimented with a warm smile and it made my cheeks warm up.

I bit down on my lower lip but managed a small smile. "Thank you, Emmett. You look great, too." That was an understatement but I knew no other word. The other boys would get a hard time as soon as we would arrive at the lake. It was the first time I could see Emmett without a shirt and had to say that his muscles could crush any guy's ego without any effort. Well, ok, any _human_ guy's ego at least. Nevertheless, I preferred Edward's statue. It never gave away what he was actually capable of – just like lifting a car, fighting off a bear and such things.

My beloved vampire was suddenly behind me, let his arms sneak around my waist and put his head on my shoulder. The sudden coolness made me jump a bit but quickly, I readjusted to his icy skin.

"Emmett's wrong." He whispered seductively into my ear. "You look absolutely breathtaking in that bikini, Bella." With these words, he kissed a path from the hollow beneath my ear down my neck to my shoulder.

"And that red on your cheeks fits _perfectly_ with the blue of it, Bella." Alice had a hard time to hold her laugher back, I could tell it from the way she spoke.

"Are you ready, you two love-birds?" She asked after some moments, since Edward made no move away from me. Not that I would complain about that.

"Ok, you aren't but anyway: Let's go!" Alice chirped and took off in the direction of the small lake.

After Edward put a last short and cold kiss on my neck, we followed Alice together with Emmett. 

"Ah, Bella? Have to tell you something and I almost forgot until now…" Emmett started. I looked up until I met his eyes and somehow I felt that I didn't want to know what he wanted to tell me. His eyes were… some kind of sparkling.

As I didn't say anything – but already heard Edward trying to hide a chuckle – Emmett went on. "Well… This morning, as you succeeded in pinning my dear brother on the floor…" Oh, no, please don't say what I think, you want to say, Emmett… "When Mike wanted to show off what a great guy he is that there were several girls holding him down… Sorry but: your little growl was absolutely adorable and cute."

Little growl?  
Adorable and cute?

I stopped in my movements and considered for a few moments if kicking him into his knee bends would do any good. Sadly, I had to face the fact, that I would most likely break my foot trying to do that.

All three vampires around me stopped, too, and _everyone_ tried to hold back his laugh. I let out a long sigh – who was I kidding? I already knew before I _"growled" _at Mike that I would get some kind of stupid comment on that… But of all those people: Why did Emmett have to say something about that?

"Emmmett, even before I did that _little_, _cute_ and _adorable_ sound, I _knew_ I had to brace myself for many stupid comments from Edward and Alice if I'd really do that – but did _you_ have to listen, too? And by the way: _It worked_!" Well, at least it looked that way from my point of view. I turned around, folded my arms in front of my chest, looked at the ground and couldn't help it: I pouted.  
Stupid vampires. Stupid vampire hearing.

I could still hear Emmett stifle a laugh but also Edward, who let out one of his low warning-growls. A heartbeat later, I felt the arm of my beloved vampire around my body, carefully holding me in an embrace.

"Hey, it's ok, Bella, I won't laugh anymore about that."

"Yeah… _sure_."

"And you were really right. Mike _was_ scared back then. He didn't think you'd do something like that and in the ear of a human it must have sound quite… scary. But, Bella, we are vampires, growling is almost something like our nature and to us, it really sounded like… well, like a small lion cub trying its first roar." With these words, he let his second arm sneak around my waist, now holding me close to his cold and marble chest. I don't know how he always accomplishes to do that but his small speech conjured a small smile on my face.

He put his head on my shoulder, kissing my neck. "And I am very thankful that you did that, Bella."

Ok, now, he had lost me. "Eh… Thanks for what?"

"That you scared that stupid boy when he tried to show off – evidently, I couldn't do that. I mean, neither show-off, nor scaring him. Growling while being held down by two girls isn't anything impressive."

I had to fight the grin on my face. "Thanks for letting out the word '_small'_ before '_girls'__"_ I whispered.

I turned around and put a kiss on Edward's exposed neck. When I looked up, his golden eyes melted every last bit of hurt left in me and I had to smile.

"Are we forgiven?" He whispered.

I leaned my forehead on his stone-like chest. "Well… Alice, yes. Just because she's Alice." Even though she made me do stupid things during the last hours… But hey, if she did not have that plan, I wouldn't have had the chance to get that perfect picture of Edward into my head. "You… You're forgiven, too. But only, because I liked your analogy to that little lion cub – those _are_ kind of cute."

I did not need to look into his eyes to know he was smiling down at me. He freed one of his hands from my waist and started to stroke up and down my spine.

"Hey, what about me?" Emmett said while still chuckling low. "You didn't say I'm forgiven, too!"

"That's because you aren't." I said a little bit louder than my rest.

"Wha… huh? Oh, come on, Bella, I didn't do anything mean."

"You laughed at me."

"Eh… yes, because you've been funny."

"And you still ask yourself why I'm not forgiving you yet?" I peeked around Edward to look at Emmett, who was smiling ruefully in my direction.

"Ok, little sister," Oh, now he tries to be especially nice? How _cute_. "I'm _really _sorry I laughed at you. I _won't _do it again."

I let out a sigh and snuggled closer to Edward. "Ok. This time, you'll get away with that. But trust me, if you laugh at me because of that again, I'll make you pay for it." I said as evil as I could muster. I knew it would made him giggle but he tried hard to hide it.

"Ok, I'll accept that. But let's join the others now, ok?" He asked while giving me a warm grin over his shoulder.

I chuckled for a moment but then, Edward and I were walking again. "If you need help with your plan to make him pay, just ask. I have several plans in my head which are only waiting to become real." With that, he gave me a mischievous smile. Somehow I hoped that he would forget _each and every single one _of those plans… 

"Hey! Bella, Alice! We already thought you'd never find your way back to the camp!" Angela shouted when we reached the water's edge.

"Well, I didn't look down on the way to that waterfall, so… Yes, would I've been on my own, I'd be lost by now." I dropped my towel on the ground and without a second look, I ran into the water. It was perfect – even warmer than I had thought.

"Oh, I can totally understand that…" Jessica said when I reached our small group of girls in the water. "I mean, nothing against his front-side, but his back… Man, I've never seen such a –"

It took me a second to understand what Jess was talking about. "If you are going to end _that_ phrase, I'll have to drown you, Jess. _Really_." I shot her the darkest look I could muster. I _know_ how gorgeous Edward looks, I don't _need_ to get _those_ kind of details from _any_ other girl. Jess looked at me and blushed furiously. "Oops." Was all she could say. I was really tempted to growl at her – now I could totally understand why Edward does that all the time to so many boys – but I could stop myself. As far as I knew _my_ vampires, they were listening again and I didn't want to get another speech of how cute I am while growling.

I turned around to get some space between Jess and me and that was the moment, where I got a look at the other boys – the expressions on their faces were practically heart-melting as they looked out of the corner of their eyes to Edward and Emmett. But had they never seen them in the boys shower-room in gym? Well… It didn't seem that way and somehow, I couldn't hide a smile.

A moment later, the three gorgeous models joined us in the water and everything went as back to normal as it would – the boys hardly ever looked at the two vampires again.

Some time later, a loud noise broke through the talkings around.

"EHHHHHHHH!" Lauren's scream scared even the birds out of the nearby trees and everyone looked at her with a bewildered expression. Tyler was next to her so he swam to the now crying girl to look what was wrong.

"Hey, everything's ok? Did you hurt your foot or something?" He asked concerned.

Lauren just threw herself into his arms, almost suffocating and drowning him at the same time.

"Whoa! Lauren, what's going on?" He asked.

"There was a fish! He touched me! It was slimy…!" The girl cryed, still having her arms tight around his neck.

For a moment, everybody was silent. Then, the booming laugher began.

"Fish? You mean those little, colorful creatures that are more afraid of you that you are of them? No, wait. Whoa, you are even more scared than a small fish!" That said, Mike couldn't stop himself from a laughing fit.

"A Fish!" Emmett, too, fell into a laughing fit himself, it seemed. "Man, that sentence made this whole trip worth coming!"

All the time, Tyler tried desperately to get the hysterical girl away from his throat and finally, he succeeded. "Hey, everything's ok, Lauren. Let me guess: You want me to take you out of here, right?" He asked in a calm voice – I had no clue how he got himself not to laugh but maybe that was because he couldn't get any air in his lungs at that moment.

"Mhmmm…." Lauren was still crying but also blushing while answering. Scared by scary stories, scared by fishes… What would that girl do if she would live my life? But she would never do that, so I could stop pondering about that. 

Just when Tyler took Lauren to the water's edge and everyone calmed down a bit, my stomach remembered me that he was still there and still empty – I didn't get any breakfast this morning and since it was after noon already, I didn't get lunch, too. It really is kind of impractical to be around vampires all the time… You forget your own human needs sometimes.

"I'm going to get me something to eat, girls. I'll be back soon." I said and waved at them when I turned around and some movements later, I was at the water's edge, too.

"Should I get you something, too, Lauren?" I asked as I took my towel from the ground. She was sitting nearby, her skin almost white. I'd never thought that Lauren could be terrified by fishes but apparently, she could.

"No, thanks, I think, I'll go into our cabin for a moment. Till later." With those words said, she got up and made her way back to our girls-only-room. Well, it would be best if she would get some rest.

I tied my huge towel around my body, since the air around was a bit colder than I had it in my memory and just when I wanted to get on my way, I could feel a small wave of water at my feet. Surely enough, one heartbeat later, I could feel Edward's presence right behind me.

"Hey, there." He said as he put one of his arms around my waist.

"Hey." I replied and leaned back. Of course, his stonelike body was right behind me.

"May I accompany you to the kitchen-cabin, my love?" He asked while placing a kiss on the back of my head.

"Um… Y-"

"Stop!" Alice was suddenly right besides me, almost staring daggers at her brother. I just gave her a look that told her I had no clue what was going on.

Alice looked once to me, then to Edward, than again to me. "Bella, trust me, you don't want to be alone with that boy right now. Let me come with you, I'll have to have a talk with you."

Oh… I almost forgot to be careful… Right, no being-alone-with-Edward for some time, if I didn't want his revenge to happen. And I really didn't want that if I could do something against it.

I tried to get free but Edward just put some butterfly-like kisses right under my earlobe and in his most velvety voice, he said: "Oh, don't believe my little sister, Bella. I wouldn't do anything to you."

"Yet." I added in a weak whisper. His voice had already washed away my resistance.

I heard him chuckle beneath my ear and his sweet air waved around my head. If Alice wouldn't do something – and preferably soon – I'd get into trouble again.

"Edward, that's not fair! Don't play around with her!" Alice looked furious but nevertheless, her voice held a level that only Edward and I could hear.

He chuckled once more and I was pretty sure he already felt his victory over me. I was leaning almost limp at his body, my fingers still over his hand but not trying to release his hold on me anymore. Because of that, his next sentence surprised me a bit."Ok, I'll let her go _this_ time." He spun me around so that I was facing him. Still holding my hand, he placed one last kiss on my lips and whispered almost inaudible right into my ear: "Take this as a warning. You should better believe what my sister is going to tell you. She's right." One last ghostly chuckle later, he released my hand and stepped a few feet back. "Be careful with her, Alice, she _might_ be a _little_ bit intoxicated by now." He said with an impish grin on his face. I tried to give him an evil stare but – what a miracle! – didn't succeed. He was right, after all: I felt like that time where we kissed for the first time… Whoa.

I shook my head some times to get the feeling out of my thoughts and without a last look at my beloved and recently pretty evil vampire, got on my way to the kitchen. Alice followed me. 

"Cheater." I whispered as I got my brain to start working again.

Alice was right by my side, nodding her head: "Yes, he is. That's pretty unfair to use his powers on you… "

As we arrived at the kitchen, I took out a tinned version of macaroni and cheese, put the stuff into a pot and heated it. "So… you wanted to tell me something?"

"Ah, yes. Well… I think, you've figured it out by now: Don't be alone with Edward. Whatever you do, take me with you or if it has to be: any other girl. I really hope he won't use all of his powers when another human is around…"

"As if _one_ wouldn't be enough." I added sarcastically.

My macaroni were boiling already and I got a dish from the cabinet and a fork from one of the many drawers.

While I ate, Alice looked deep in thought. "There has to be a way to rescue you…"

"Ah, nice, we are already at the rescue part of your plan? I thought that part would only be needed when he already got me alone?"

Alice sat down across from me, her arms folded on the table, her pixilike head resting on them.

"Don't you have any plan that begins _before_ I have to be rescued?" I asked between two roks full of noodles.

"Well, I had a pretty good one but since I was thinking so hard on it, I forgot to hide my thoughts and… well…"

"He heard it all." It wasn't a question, I was absolutely positive about that fact. Alice just nodded her head.

"Bella, I'll do my best to help you but… My dear brother has _so_ many plans how he could get you…"

I let out a long sigh. "Perfect thing to do would just be to surrender to him, wouldn't it?"

"Not, if you think he'll have any mercy when you'll do that." She stated.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wouldn't it make things easier for him?

"He has quite many ideas of what to do with you, he almost changes his mind once every few minutes. Believe me, he won't hurt you – neither physically nor mentally – but nevertheless… It would be best for you if you wouldn't have to face any of his ideas. And about that 'mercy'-topic: All of his plans are equally evil, there is no plan that I'd choose over any other plan."

Now, we both sighed in defeat.

"Would you mind telling me some of his plans?" I asked but somehow I highly doubted she would.

Alice made quite an unhappy face – but somehow, her eyes sparkled of excitement. "Just trust me Bella: we should try our best that none of his plans will work out."

I brought my dish and fork to the sink and cleaned them. All the time, my head was buzzing because the things Alice said and the way, Edward behaved… I had to say: Never mind what I'd be facing if Edward would get me. Somehow, I was excited, just like Alice, and as I thought my next thought, a grin plastered itself on my face and I had to bite down on my lip to stop me from chuckling:

_Let the hunt begin._


	13. Chapter thirteen Rules

AN:

I wanted this chapter to be released much sooner but somehow, I wasn't really... Well, I didn't like the original one, so I wrote it again. It's a little shorter than the last chapters - sorry for that - but I think, the next chapters will be longer again :)

Ah: And thanks for all your comments hugs everyone

--------------

Chapter 13 – Hunting

"Bella? Why are you blushing?" A very amused Alice giggled from behind my back. I didn't even feel the heat coming to my cheeks… I'll definitely have to work on my self-control. It's not a nice thing that everyone around me always knows what's going on _inside_ of my head…

"Well… I was just… thinking." Please, don't ask, _please_, don't ask.

As soon as I said that, I saw her sitting on the sideboard, right next to the sink where I toweled the dish dry. "Thinking?" She asked while grinning in my direction. Her eyes sparkled now in amusement, not the excitement from before. "Seem to be quite… _interesting_ thoughts when you are blushing _and_ grinning at the same time…"

I bit down on my lower lip and had to put the dish on the cupboard – The excitement and nervousness was getting into my fingertips and I didn't want to break the dish."I know, Alice, but… I can't even say _why_ I react that way… I mean: Shouldn't I feel… I don't know. Any other feeling except for excitement? What's wrong with my head?" I turned around and sat down besides Alice, on the other side of the cupboard.

Her grinning gave way for a warm smile, I could see it out of the corner of my eyes. At that moment, I was busying myself with playing around with my fingers. I really felt nervous.

"Bella, nothing's wrong with your head, trust me. I know what I'm talking about." She said and smiled in my direction. I sighed at looked into her golden eyes.

"In fact, I can totally understand your feelings right now. For us, hunting is exciting. Sometimes more than at other times. But I guess it feels that way,too, if you _know_ that _you_ are the one hunted – at least when you can be sure that nothing will happen to you if your… _predator_ is successful and gets you."

_Predator_. That word sent chills down my spine. Somehow, I couldn't link that word in my head with Edward – but really: I didn't want to, either. And furthermore: The last time I was hunted, it ended in a hospital. Without thinking about it, I stroke over the scar on the back of my hand. The scar that was left by James.

Alice felt my sudden uneasiness and took one of my hands into her small ones. "Bella, nothing will happen to you, trust me. Of all the… beings on this planet, Edward would be the last one to hurt you, if at all. And about the things he plans… Well… Let's just say that you might actually enjoy it a little… Although, as far as I know you, you wouldn't really admit it." With that, she grinned at me and winked. Her words helped me to relax again. She was right: I wouldn't have to be scared by Edward.

But... I would like what he plans? Her remark made me smile again, nevertheless I still felt a bit nervous. "But Alice?"

"Hum?"

"How do you get the idea that Edward would try to _hunt_ me? Get back on me, ok, but… hunt? Maybe that's just me but isn't hunting something you do with… well… your prey?"

Alice bit down her lower lip and fought down a chuckle. "Bella, this time, I didn't really talk about hunting _animals_… And before you get your next chilly feeling: No, I'm not talking about hunting humans, either. But… Oh, how do I put that…" She let her head fall back and looked at the ceiling. "Well, I'm going to need some prehistory for that. Sometimes it happens that two vampires are picking the same prey they want. Normally, that leads to a fight: The winner gets the prey." She took her eyes from the ceiling and looked at me again, an impish grin on her face. "Actually, when two vampires get a little bored, they could start a fight, too. But since we are pretty different from all the other vampires – at least as far as our diet is concerned – we don't have to fight for our prey, because there aren't many who would choose animals over humans." She made a short pause and looked skeptical into my eyes. "Ehmm… When I'm scaring you, tell me, ok?"

I let out a chuckle. Sometimes it felt funny how every Cullen thought he or she would scare me with their stories or the way they are talking. "No problem, Alice, just go on."

She giggled but went on in her explanation. "So… There isn't anyone who would fight against us and there isn't even a point in fighting for our prey – everywhere around us we can find what we want. If one animal is already gone, we'll just go on to the next one. So… we started little fights on our own. Mostly it's just between mates, so… Rose and Emmett, Jasper and me… Trust me, having an intelligent prey, who knows what's going on, is _way_ more thrilling that hunting stupid animals."

Her grin was radiant and her eyes sparkled like crazy when she came to the last sentence and I couldn't hide a grin from my own face.

"So… let me get this straight, Alice. Just as an example. You and Jasper would start hunting _each other _just for fun?"

I didn't really need the answer spoken out loud, it was already written all over her face. "Yes. But only, if the other part is OK with it. So, would I say no, he wouldn't start and vice versa."

I got a mental picture of Jasper, catlike in his movements and pixi-like Alice in my head, both trying to win a fight… I wondered who'd win. But I wouldn't ask. I got the impression _that_ information would be a bit… too private. 

"Your lower lip seems to be quite tasty. You bite on it pretty often, do you realize that?" She asked laughingly.

_Oops_. But her laugher was rubbing off on me and soon, we were both sitting on the cupboard, holding on to it so we wouldn't fall down while laughing.

"So…" She started anew as we had calmed down a bit. "That are the rules."

"In fact, you only spoke about _one_ rule and that was '_getting the permission_'. Which other rules are there I should now about?" I asked. I already understood in which way this conversation was going: Edward wanted to start a "hunt" and Alice was just there to tell me what would be going on the next hours.  
I really needed to get another word for "hunt". Every time it crossed my mind, I felt chills building up.

She let out a low chuckle. "Yes, I guess the second and third rule is almost too easy to think about it as a rule… Well, it's simple: Don't hurt your mate and don't do anything to him he doesn't like."

I had to smile about those rules. Yes, I wouldn't have thought of them as '_real rules'_, but if that would be everything I had to know, I was ready for whatever was coming.

"Ah, I almost forgot… The forth rule says that you have to stop it as soon as your mate says so. I don't mean those '_Don't you think you should better give up' _kind of stuff that everyone likes to ask but when it gets dangerous for at least one part. Any questions left?"

I shook my head. Those were rules I could follow. 

Alice smiled, the spark of excitement still evident in her eyes. "I think, Edward already knows that you are OK with this little… _game_."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, he asked you several times this morning if you are scared, didn't he?"

"Oh. Eh… Yes?" Only now it dawned on me how often he had asked that…

"And later at the waterfall… he just seized your reaction. To him, the hunt hadn't already started, although _you_ might have thought that way. To be honest: I thought he would've started it already even before I arrived..." She added with a knowing smile.

That made me blink several times. I didn't think along those lines before but when she told me now… It fit in her rule of asking for permission. My smile widened as I realized that. 

We sat there for several more minutes. She gave me time to let all the information she had passed on to me sink in.

"Ready to return to the water?" She asked.

I just nodded and together, we slipped down from the cupboard and made our way back to the others. 

Lauren was back, sitting on her towel on the grass, looking at the others. Her normal skin-color had returned and she looked a lot better than the last time I saw her.Most of the others were still in the water but Emmett and Edward were sitting on their towels just like Lauren – only some yards away from all the others.

As we approached the lake, Edward turned his head so he could see us coming – never mind the fact that he probably already heard us – well, ok, more something of "heard _me_", since Alice didn't make any sound - when we came out of the kitchen.With one fluent movement, he got to his feet and made his way to us.

"Hey there." He said as only a few feet parted us from each other. His hands were in the pockets of his trousers and a big anthracite towel was draped around his shoulders, hiding most of his breathtaking body. The color suited him.

"Hey." I said, once again ogling at my perfect boyfriend. Would there be a time where I just could look at him? Somehow, I doubted it…

Alice looked at me and grinned. "Well, I'll give you two lovebirds a minute; I'm with the other girls." Only seconds after she said that, I could hear the water splashing behind Edward's back.

I closed my eyes and fought a chuckle. Of all the people making this trip, she seemed to be clearly one of those, who enjoyed it the most.Even though I got the feeling that I wasn't far off that first place on the list…

When I opened my eyes the next time, Edward was already standing right in front of me, letting his strong, marble arms sneak around my waist. I did the same with him and snuggled myself close against his hard chest – all the time, I had to fight the big smile that was trying to make its way on my face.

He bent his head down so his lips were directly at my ear. "Did she tell you about it?" He whispered.

"Yes." I didn't need to ask what he was talking about. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I could feel his lips forming a wide smile. He lightly kissed the soft spot right beneath my ear, while his right arm sneaked up around my shoulders, forming a cage around me no one could possibly escape from.

"What do you think about it?" His whisper was almost inaudible to me – but that was maybe just because I heard my loud heart beats in my ear.

Now, I couldn't hide the smile from my face anymore and just once more, bit down my lower lip. I really had to be careful, doing that was an accident waiting to happen. "Don't you think that it would be a little bit _too_ easy for you?" I whispered, definitely hoping for a '_no_'.

He pulled away a bit and looked into my eyes. His were sparkling in excitement just like Alice's and mine back in the kitchen. A low chuckle made his way over my lips.

"Well… Only, if I get you alone somewhere… But since you are warned and Alice got the permission to help you a little… No, I don't think it will be _too_ easy."

"But still _easy_." I stated smirking.

Now, it was his time to chuckle. "Well, that depends entirely on you."

One heartbeat later, I felt his cold lips pressing on my own one and I lost myself in the kiss. My arms sneaked up to his neck and although I still had his warning in my head, I pushed him a little bit… deeper into our kiss. He didn't resist and soon, I felt his tongue gracing my lips again. I had really missed this feeling…

As our lips parted again, we both had to take several deep breaths – well, those were more important to me than to him I think, but nevertheless: It was good to know what our kisses could do to him.

This time, I didn't even try to hide that I licked his venom from my lips. And this time he didn't need to tell me 'You're a junky', I could read it from his loving eyes. 

"Are you going back into the water?" Edward asked as he slowly led me to his big towel, which was lying on the ground. His arm was still draped around my waist.

"No, not yet… I'll wait some more minutes, I think." My head was leaning on his shoulder and the voice in my head which told me to be careful around Edward was almost fading out. I had to be careful about that… I knew I had no chance against Edward in this '_hunt'_ but I did not want to make it too easy for him. And to be honest: I was curious. How long would I be able to resist him? Or… how long would it take him, to get me alone?

I heard his ghostly chuckle from behind me when I was sitting down next to his towel. Naturally, I blushed – what did I do wrong this time, that he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking about?

As I looked up to him, his two golden pools seemed to be swirling – a sign which unmistakably told me: If he'd really try, I would lose right now. He gave me a warm smile and sat down on my left side, where he had already been sitting when Alice and I were returning from our talk. He took my small hand into his cold one and started stroking random patterns on my palm. In fact, it tickled a bit but I didn't say anything and just drowned in his honey-colored eyes. 

"Hey, Bella!" Angela's voice saved me from drowning completely. I tried to look away but once again, I was under Edward's spell. He sensed my failed try and grinned at me, still not lifting his spell from me.

I chose to ignore his grin. "What is it?" I asked loud enough so that Angela could hear me.

"Want to join us in a diving-contest?" She replied.

I had to gather all my strength to close my eyes and break our eye contact, but surprisingly, I succeeded. Maybe Edward thought about giving me at least a small chance? I didn't know. Somehow, I liked the idea of being strong enough to resist him a little bit.

Without any second look in his heavenly butterscotch eyes, I got up, let the huge towel flow down my body and with a "Yes! I'm coming!" I ran into the lake until the water reached up to my throat. 

As I reached the small group of girls, Alice welcomed me with a whispered "That was way better than I thought. Maybe you'll really have a chance…"

It conjured a small but nevertheless proud smile on my lips that made my friend giggle.

"So, ok… Here, that's what we will be searching down there." Angela held a small stone in her hand. It was red and had a small piece of fabric knotted tightly around it, so we would be able to recognize it at the bottom of the lake.

"The first who finds it and brings it to the surface wins, ok?" The brown-haired girl asked.

"Hm… Ok, but when we are all down there… Who's the referee?" That question was asked by Lauren.

"Hey! Boys!" Alice had once again her spark of excitement in her eyes. "Four helpless girls are searching for a good referee! Any volunteers?"

It was only out of the corner of my eye but I was pretty sure I saw how Mike was suddenly diving into the water – and I was sure that he didn't do it because the bottom of the lake was so very interesting. Maybe it was Alice's choosing of words? I was pretty positive he would never again call any girl '_helpless_'…

But I wasn't the only one to notice. Next to me, Angela started giggling and soon after, every one of us joined her. Poor Mike.

"I'd do it." Tyler proposed. "I was going to get out of the water anyway… I'll just sit down on the nearby base and have a look, OK?"

No one of us said anything against it and so, he got the stone and swam to that base.

"Well, let's go!" He announced and after his throw, the stone hit the water and sank down to the ground. "Happy searching!" 

Eventually, I threw the towel after about thirteen tries to get that stone. In fact, sometimes I managed to get it before everyone else could – Alice _had_ to let us win several times – but now, I just needed a break.

As I wanted to return to my towel right next to Edward, he already had it in his hand, offering it to me. I shot him a suspicious glance – It was harder than I thought to be on my guard. He felt my insecurity and gave me a warm smile I just couldn't resist.

Only a moment later, I sat in front of him, trying to towel my hair dry.

"You are acting much more careful than I have thought you would be." He stated with a heart melting smile.

"I have every right to do, don't I?" I looked at him from under my lashes while putting the towel around my shoulders.

Edward just smirked and in a quick movement, he had me once again in his strong arms. I had to blink several times, I was startled. "So much about careful." I mumbled more to myself than to him. Naturally, he heard it. His quiet laugher filled the air around me with his scent, rendering me totally helpless.

My beloved vampire put one of his long fingers under my chin, lifting it so that I was once again a prisoner of his wonderful eyes. "Well, as careful as you can be, my love."

"Mhmmm…" Was all I could answer. Why did he have to be able to do those thing to me where I don't even get _one_ power I could really use? Sometimes, live isn't fair…

Edward smiled down on me and placed a long and loving kiss on my lips.

During the kiss, I could feel my eyelids beginning to get heavy and my whole body relax. The almost sleepless night and early action of this day was slowly taking its toll on me. Edward could feel it.

"Tired?" He asked while stroking a loose strand of hair from my face behind my ear.

I couldn't even open my eyes anymore and all I could say was "Hmm… But I don't want to be."

He let out a low chuckle. Suddenly, I could feel his towel beneath me. "It's ok, my love. You really need a rest. I'll be here, watching over you." He whispered.

I could feel a towel covering my body then – was it my own one? I couldn't say. I felt his lips on my cheek but even before his kiss came to an end, I felt myself losing to unconsciousness.


	14. Chapter fourteen Game

AN: I'm eating chocolate-covered strawberries right now. You should try them too, they are great ;)And I have to give LEO a big hug – that's the online dictionary I'm using ;) I'd still be somewhere in the third chapter if I hadn't got that site…  
It took some more days than I though to get this one finished. My list of things I shouldn't do while writing is growing. Newest entry: "Never read Fanfics with more than 20 chapters before you haven't done ONE of your owns yet."  
And this chapter turned out tobe MUCH longer than I thought. Oops. It was hard to find the perfect place to stop writing /

* * *

Chapter 14 – Game 

A cold but gentle touch on my cheek woke me up from my dreamless slumber. "Wake up, my angel." A voice sweet as silk whispered into my ear.

Slowly, I tried to open up my eyes again, stretching my arms as I did. "How late is it?" My voice sounded sleeply.

Edward's cool fingers traced a line from my ear to my chin. "It is around five in the afternoon, dear. You've been sleeping for almost an hour but now, I think, the others got plans what to do now."

I rolled myself on the back, blinking so that my eyes could readjust. I was still lying on Edward's towel, he had covered my body with my own one. As I sat up and pulled my towel around me, I glanced at Edward. I couldn't read his facial expression – he gave me a loving smile but in his eyes was something else…

I reached out and put my hand against his cheek. He leaned in to it. "Is something wrong?"

He gave me one dazzling smile. "No, everything's fine. Actually…" Edward leaned forward so that our lips were only mere inches apart "Actually, it's way better than just fine." Only a heartbeat later, I felt his marble lips on mine.

"I think, we should go and change back in our normal clothes. Tyler and Mike came up with a game and since it doesn't involve swimming…" He trailed off and was on his feet only a second later.

I took his hand and when I was standing on my own feet again, I could feel his gaze on my body, taking in every imperfect little part of it. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, almost setting them on fire, and self-consciously, I draped myself in the towel that almost hid my whole body.

"I'm sorry." Edward whispered, a ruefully smile playing on his lips. "I'm going to miss that sight." He added almost too quiet to hear.  
Almost.

With one of his strong arms around my waist, we joined the others who were already gathered at the fireplace.

"Ah, finally you chose to join us." Mike wasn't too happy to see me in Edward's arms - that was clear.

"Hey, I needed to wake up first." How long were they already standing here, anyway?

"Yeah, sure. And have a make out session with Mr. Cullen." Although Lauren was only whispering, I could clearly understand her. I could already feel the blood rushing in my cheeks again and I didn't think about what I was saying until the words had left my mouth: "Are you jealous?"

In a protective manner, Edward put his second arm around my waist, holding me against his chest. Before any other word could be said, Eric was between Lauren and me.

"Girls, as much as I'd like to see you two in a catfight, just calm down for now, ok? I don't want anyone to get hurt."

I took a deep breath and looked away from Eric and Lauren. I should've looked at my feet, since Emmett was standing directly where I wanted to look – he was covering his mouth with his hand, trying to fight down the laugher. Something told me that my cheeks would be red for some time now…

"Thanks, Eric." Mike said. "But now to what we were planning… Last night, Tyler, Eric and I were thinking about we could do this late afternoon. Well, we came up with a game – we're going to pair up and have to do several tasks on several places in the forest. The first team wins and doesn't have to clean up tomorrow morning. I'll give tasks which team cleans up which part of the camping ground – but trust me, no one really want to arrive at the finish as the last one."

When he reached the end of his little explanation, no one looked comfortable. The last one to arrive at the finish… I got the feeling in my gut that those would have to clean the bathing-cabin. I had nothing against cleaning up but nevertheless, I really hoped I wouldn't arrive as the last one.

"Any questions left?" Eric asked after a short silence. As no one answered, he announced: "Ok, since there aren't any questions, let's get changed in normal clothes. We will meet again in about fifteen minutes right here."

Everybody was heading to their cabin – everybody but Edward and me. I'd do the same as everybody else, but the strong arms of my beloved vampire formed a cage around my waist I couldn't possibly escape from.

"Edward?" I asked while my hands drifted to his, trying to gently pry his arms open.

I felt his silent laugher in my neck. "Yes, love?"

"Would you _please_ let me go? I still have to get into my normal clothes." Trying to escape his arms was as promising as trying to bend steel with my bare hands.

He let his nose stroke against my neck. "No, I don't think, I'll let you go… You look beautiful the way you are dressed right now."

I felt the familiar heat on my cheeks again, forgot about my plan of escaping him by using my physical strength and turned around to look into his eyes.

"So, I don't look good in my normal clothes than?" I asked. I tried to sound hurt but what he had said right before… It sent millions of butterflies around my stomach.

He looked deep into my eyes, letting his breath fan across my face. "Don't be ridiculous, Bella. It's just… Well… I don't see you like that very often." He bent his head down so he could kiss the soft spot underneath my ear.

I had to pull myself together if I did not want to get lost in his touch. Or his words on the other hand. I had to come up with a good plan.

"Edward?" I asked once again. I couldn't be sure of his attention right now: He was stroking a line from my ear down my neck and back again.

"Hmmm?" It sounded as if I woke him up from a pleasant dream.

"You won't get any kiss from me for at least half a day unless you let me go now." Better be real: I couldn't really keep away from kissing him for more than a few hours, I was positive about that.

Edward pulled away until his gaze met mine. He had a disbelieving glint in his eyes that soon became one of amusement.

"You know you can't stick to that threat." He said in his most velvety voice, trying to drown me in his pools of gold.

"That's what _you_ think." I whispered, grinning.

"Oh, really?" He asked, his breath and voice almost rendering me helpless.  
Almost.

Only one or maybe two inches before his lips met mine, I put my index and middle finger in front of my lips, stopping his movement. His brows slowly furrowed in disappointment.

"No kisses if you don't let me go." I repeated once more. I couldn't hide a smug little grin from my face, although I ached to meet his lips and to get lost in his touch once more.

"You're unfair, my love."

"Just like you, my beloved vampire." Now, both of us were smirking.

Three or four heartbeats later, I could feel his touch around my waist vanish and a second later, he was standing in front of me again – but this time, a few feet parted us. "Feel free to leave, my love. I'll find another way." The smug grin was once again evident on his face.

"Of course, you will." I smiled. With those words, I turned around and met the other girls back in our sleeping-cabin.

"What's going on between you and Cullen?" As soon as I opened the door, Jessica attacked me with her questions. "I mean, until some minutes ago, you've been sleeping right next to him and just now, you refused to kiss him?" She gave me a look that said I was insane. "That's just like… refusing to receive the jackpot after you won it!"

"Jess, I have my reason. Recently, Edward tries to get back on me because of what happened this morning. I just have to be on my guard now." Alice shot me a grin.

"Get back on you? _Why_?" She was already in her normal clothes – jeans and a long-sleeve shirt – and was packing away her towel.

To my surprise, Angela answered. "Being smart isn't a boy's trait. They never know when they just have to accept their defeat." Angela stated without even to look up from her swimming bag. For a moment, it was silent in our room but only a few heartbeats later, we fell into a long laughing fit. On this trip, Angela never ceased to surprise me. The shy Angela from school was out of all recognition.

About ten minutes later, we stepped out of our girls-only-cabin. Being in my normal clothes was somehow comforting. Although it wasn't exactly _cold_ outside, wearing only a bikini was just a little… too little.

The boys were already gathered again, standing around an unlabeled tin box in their middle. Edward was in faded out jeans and a long-sleeved light brown turtleneck that fit perfectly to his figure. Alice lightly poked me into my side, stopping me from ogling.

"Ah, the ladies… Good to see you again. We were getting worried that you might have lost your way back to this spot…" Mike mused. Nevertheless, he was quickly silenced by the glares he received from us girls.

As we came to a stop next to them, Edward carefully reached for my hand, giving me a warm smile as I looked up to his eyes. I let my hand slip into his one.

"So, ok. In this box, we have several pieces of paper. On each paper, there is a name. We will take two pieces of papers in one round and those two have to pair up as a team. Understood?" As nobody said anything, Mike went on with his explanations. "When we are paired up, we will head into the forest. Don't worry: There will always be a path to follow so nobody will get lost." I heard Lauren stifle her quiet laugher but chose to ignore it. "The first team we will get from this box is the first team to walk into the forest. There will be several spots where you can find a sheet of paper that will tell you what to do. There will always be five tasks at every spot, so no one will have the same task as any other team. Ah, and before I forget about it: If you think you found something another group will have to find, you are allowed to hide it."

I had to admit: That sounded interesting – although walking through a forest was involved. Roots, slickly stones,… I sighted. However, I wondered when they put up those spots?

"Well, I'll begin to form the teams…" With that, Mike reached into the small, tinned box and took two pieces of paper from it.

I could feel Edward's hand tighten around my small hand and I started to stroke soothing circles on his back. As far as I knew my luck, we wouldn't end up in a team together.

"Our first team is: Tyler and Lauren. Just take the path right behind me."

As soon as he said it, both of them were on their way.

"Our second team… Edward and… Alice." He couldn't hide the self-confident grin from his face as he announced my beloved vampire and my best friend as a team.

Edward leaned down to me, putting a loving kiss on my lips and underneath my ear. "Be safe, my love. I couldn't stand it if anything would happen to you." He voice was merely a soft murmur in my ear. I gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand once, then he had to let go. Only a few seconds later, Alice and Edward were behind the first rows of bushes and trees, out of sight. My hand felt empty.

"Our third team: Eric and Angela." They smiled at each other, than took off, following the others.

"Fourth team… Oh." He shot me a grin I couldn't really return. "That would be you and me, Bella." Oh, _great_. But to be honest: I already thought something like that. It's just my kind of luck.

Without much enthusiasm, I walked to his side, waiting to take off.

"Well, that would leave you two as our last group… So… Have fun, Emmett, Jessica?"

Saying '_Jessica looked uncomfortable_' was an understatement. Shyly, she looked up into Emmett's eyes, biting down on her lip. Only one heartbeat later, she was by my side, whispering: "Bella, can't we switch partners? I mean…"

"No, Jess, sorry. Bella is with _me_." Apparently, Mike could hear her. The look she shot him was almost heart-melting but maybe this was his kind of punishment to _her_ since she had so much fun shoving him this morning. But on the other hand, maybe it was just his wish to spend some time together with me – away from Edward. Another sigh escaped my lips.

Emmett smirked at me but before anybody else could see it, he said: "After you, miss. I'll keep my hands by myself and believe me when I say: I won't bite."

That last remark sent shivers down my spine but made me smile at the same time. Jess was feeling a bit better – at least, it seemed so. But who could resist a Cullen's charm? I couldn't think of anyone.

Mike and I were already walking since five minutes when we reached the first task-spot. Jess and Emmett had to wait several minutes until they were allowed to take off, too. Something about fairness, I believed.

Hum… I wondered, where Edward was? I was pretty sure he wouldn't be one of those who would have to clean something up – naturally, Alice and Edward would arrive as the first team. But didn't Edward say that Mike wouldn't get even only one minute alone with me? I mean: I have nothing against Mike, he's a nice boy, but nevertheless…

Lost in thought, I stroke the back of my right hand – the hand Edward had held in his hand back at the camp.

"Zoned-out again, huh?" Mikes voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Eh… What? Sorry, yes." I gave him a sheepish grin. He was already used to my zoning out – it happened pretty often when I was filling the racks with new stuff at his shop.

He let out a sigh and faced forward once again. "Hey, that's our first task-point." He pointed to a small box, hanging on a branch of a nearby tree. A yellow card was at it's top.

"Ok, it says…" Mike fetched it and began reading. "I'm grey. Come and get me."

Mike and I looked at each other as if a giant slug had fallen down from heaven.

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm grey. Come and get me." Mike read out once more, clearly bewildered.

"Who chose the tasks for the cards, Mike?"

"Tyler. And one of those tasks was thought up by Eric, since it would be unfair to everybody else if Tyler would get his own task…"

"OK…. So, we have to… search for something grey?" I asked.

"Apparently so, yes." He put the yellow card into his back pocket and started searching on the ground.

Grey… Where to find something grey in a patch of green? While thinking about it, I lifted my head and looked into the trees. Green leaves, green moss, green fir needles, green stuff covering the branches, … It made me smile. Several months ago, I didn't like all that green stuff around me – I was used to brown – but now, it just felt like home.

"Hey, maybe it's this one?" Mike asked.

_Oops_, I was zoning out again.

I looked at what he had found: A stone, almost grey. But only almost.

"Well, Mike, that looks a lot like green, actually."

He frowned and I could hear footsteps coming nearer. Emmett and Jessica should be on their way to this task point.

Then, it hit me. On the way we took, there was a tree that looked pretty much like the color _grey_.

"Wait a minute, Mike!" As fast as I could, I got back on the trail, back to the tree. Sure enough, I even found a small piece of bark at its roots. Definitely grey.

"Hey, Bella, already working on your first task?" Emmett greeted me as I happily examined the small piece of bark in my hands.

"No, actually we dissolved the mystery of our first task. Have fun with your one!" I said merrily and got back to Mike.

"Here. That's grey." He took a look and after a slight nod, he put the piece of bark in a small box.

The moment Jessica almost stumbled to our place, we took off again, heading to the second task point. She didn't look too uncomfortable anymore and I had to smile.

Well, maybe it wasn't the worst thing to be paired up with Mike. I mean, if Edward and I'd be in a team, I would definitely be alone with him – what leads to that tiny, almost inaudible voice in my head that tries to remind me of: Don't be alone with him.

I let out a long sigh.

"Are you ok, Bella?" Mike's concerned voice took me once more from my thoughts about Edward.

"Yes, everything's fine, Mike. I was just… In thought."

"Yeah, you're doing that pretty often. May I ask you what you are thinking about?"

I had to smile because of his question. Why do so many people want to know about my thoughts? I couldn't really understand them.

Mike crossed his arms behind his head. "Ok, then, let me guess: Daydreaming about Edward again?"

"Uhm… yes."

"What's going on between you two anyway? I mean. First you act like you just forget about everybody else and the next moment, you don't even let him kiss you."

That startled me and I stopped walking. Had everybody been looking when I stopped Edward from kissing me?

I gave him a suspicious look. "Everything's just as always between Edward and me, Mike. It's just…" I took a moment to think this through. Should I really tell him? Well, it wouldn't hurt. "Edward tries to get back on me because of this morning. Really, Mike: Sneaking in was the stupidest idea you two could get." I had to snicker as I recalled the memory of Edward and Mike, pinned down by us girls.

"Oh, _please_, don't remind me." But while he said it, he was snickering himself. "That was excruciating. But… Bella?"

We were already walking again. "Yes?"

"Where did you learn to growl? I mean… I never heard you doing that, it sounded pretty… well…" He was on the loss of words and by now, I was laughing freely. So he really _was_ frightened back then.

"Let's just say that I have pretty good role-models, ok?" At least, as far as their playful growls were concerned. My memory went back to the first time I heard Edward really growl – a guttural snarl that let all the hairs on my arms stand up. My memory was better than I would have thought: Even only remembering it, it had the same effect on me.

"Are you cold?" Mike asked, looking down on my arms.

"No, just remembering something. How far is it to the next task point?" Better change the subject.

Mike shot me a skeptical glance, then looked into the forest in front of us again. "Not far. But I hope our next task is… less stupid than the last."

I just smiled and after a few more minutes, we arrived at the next task point.

After we stumbled through some ferns, which blocked our path, we saw Lauren and Tyler in the small clearing ahead.

"Ah! I just can't find it!" Lauren complained. Apparently, they had a task similar to the one we had to solve.

"What are you searching for?" Mike asked with a small grin on his face.

"As if we would tell you, Mike." Tyler shot my partner a knowing look.

Mike just whistled innocently and got a blue paper from the small, tinned box at one of the trees. "Okay, let's have a look."Since Lauren and Tyler shouldn't know what we would have to do, I stood next to Mike, glancing down at the paper in his hands. It said: '_Draw a __grizzly_.'

Mike and I exchanged a long, skeptical glance. "A _grizzly_?" Why not a rabbit, a bird, anything but a grizzly?

"Eh… Yes. Well, you're better than me in drawing, so: Here's your pen. Good luck."

I had to pull myself together if I didn't want to smack him. Me? Drawing a _grizzly_? Good joke.

"Mike? What if it doesn't look like a grizzly? Are we dismissed at the end of the game and have to clean up the bathing-cabin?"

"I think so, yes. So… _Please_ give it your best shot."

I sat down beside him on the fallen tree, starting to draw. Oh, I _really_ hoped none of my vampire friends would see this…. Piece of _art_.

"Do you really think the teeth of grizzlies are so… huge?" Mike asked when I finished the drawing by adding the "_details_".

"I don't know. I've never seen a bear but I was told they are kind of… huge, scary and definitely lethal. So… Why not add huge teeth and claws to this _lovely_ piece of a bear?"

Mike suppressed a chuckle and took the picture from my hands.

"It's a good thing that we took those cards to write the tasks on… We wanted to take the smaller ones but just imagine how small your picture would have been then."

"Small enough so that no one could see that it should show a grizzly. Would be helpful, don't you think so?"

He gave me a warm smile and put the drawing into his back pocket.

"Hey! Tyler, Lauren! Haven't you found it yet? Whatever it is you are searching?" Mike asked.

Lauren frowned. "No. Are you sure it's supposed to be found?"

"Yes, it is. Maybe someone of the other groups hid it? Oh, wait a moment." My looked thoughtfully into the treetops. After a few moments, he looked back to Tyler. "Hey, you started first into the woods and this is task point two. Were the two Cullens already faster at point one?"

I couldn't hide the big grin from my face and so, I turned around. Poor Lauren. If their… item was hidden by Alice or Edward, they were facing hard times.

Tyler just let out a long-drawn sigh. "Yes, they were. They solved their task almost immediately."

As I turned around again, carefully showing nothing more than a smile, Tyler didn't look too happy. Somehow, I could understand him.

"Hey, maybe that was just an easy one they got. Probably they'll have more problems with the next tasks?" I proposed. That seemed to lighten up Tyler's mood.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But anyway, we have to search on." As soon as Tyler had said those words, Mike led me back on a small trail through the high ferns.

"It's working out better than I thought." Mike said, while we made our way across _many_ roots and loose stones.

"Huh?"

"Well, there are only four task points in this forest, but five groups. Two groups are in our back, two still to come. Somehow, I get the feeling that we will see the Cullens at the finish, so there are only Angela and Eric left. Do you think we could manage to arrive at the finish before they can?"

My brows furrowed. He was right, it was working out good. But I doubted that we would be able to be faster than Angela and Eric.

"We can try?" I offered.

He just smiled and walked on.

"Oh, come on, Eric, that's not a maple leaf, that's a leaf of a birch." Even before reaching the task point, we could hear Angela.

"Yours isn't a maple leaf either, Angela." Tyler retorted.

"Hey, you two." I greeted as we reached them in the small clearing. Well, it was more of a ' _very small place without many trees_', but let's call it a clearing.

"Hey, Bella!" Angela greeted, while climbing a tree to get another leaf. Eric waved in our direction, then positioned himself next to that tree, carefully eyeing Angela.

Mike went straight to the small box and took a blue piece of paper from it. "Write down five animals, which are living in this forest." Mike let out a long sigh. "Eric? Remind me to never let Tyler and you choose the tasks again, okay?"

Eric just grinned in our direction and then helped Angela to hop down from the tree.

"Five animals… Hm… Rabbits, mice, deer… Can you think of anything else?" Mike asked.

"Don't forget the birds, Mike. And…" Ducks? No. That would be 'birds', too. "Worms?" I said without thinking.

Mike gave me a disgusted look but wrote my answer down. "I ever thought girls would think of _cute_ animals first." He murmured.

"So, this one is solved, too…" He said louder – so that even Angela and Eric could hear him. Both shot him an unhappy glance.

"It's a bit too easy, don't you think so?" I asked while we were on our way to the last task point.

"Hmm… Somehow, yes, it is. But maybe you're a talisman?" He grinned at me and winked.

"Me? A talisman? Yeah, wishful thinking." I retorted. I got the feeling in my gut that this conversation was going where I didn't want it to go. Better be fast and change the subject…

"How are things with Jess and you, Mike?" I asked as casually as I could. Better remind him of his girlfriend now.

He gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm starting again, don't I? But well… Jess and me… She's a really cute girl."

Somehow, his comment startled me. Starting? So… He knew why I started the topic. I felt the typical heat rise to me cheeks.

"Cute? That's all?" I asked.

He let out a laugh. "No, of course not. She's fun to be with, always cheering me up – even after our… involuntary shower this morning – and… well.. She is always there for me when I need her." He added the last words almost whispering. It conjured a smile on my lips – Jess and Mike were really close to each other as it seemed.

"And what about you, Bella?" He smiled into my eyes.

I blushed and looked at my feet. I couldn't really find words to describe Edward's and my relationship.

"Ah, okay, you don't need to say anything. I've already a good guess. But one question: Is he always like this?"

I raised my brow. "What do you mean, Mike?"

"Well, like this. Always around you, looking after you and doing those things… Just take this morning. I never fought against Edward – at least not physically – but I have the good impression that no one, especially not a girl of your size, would be able to hold him down like you did. And later at the waterfall… Let's forget about him showing off all the time but when he came out of the water and you greeted him with your towel…" Mike looked amused down into my eyes. "He really has to love you to endure all those things you girls did to us. Is he always acting that way towards you?"

Once again, I felt the stupid blush in my cheeks. Nevertheless, I had to smile. "Yes, he is. Always." I was almost whispering.

Mike chuckled next to me. "Okay, now I understand why he got you and I didn't."

We went several minutes in comfortable silence, then he asked: "Bella?"

"Hum?" I was on the edge of zoning out once more.

"I hope you'll get a happy ending with him. But… Whenever you need a shoulder to cry on, just come to me." He smiled but looked into the bushes in front of us.

"Mike…" I said warily, but he interrupted me once more.

"Hey, I mean as a friend. I think, I'll just have to surrender as far as Cullen is concerned." He winked at me and I had to laugh. Sometimes, it was really easy to like Mike.

"I hope the same for you and Jess. You two are a really cute couple."

His eyes sparkled. "You think so?" I just nodded – only a heartbeat later, we arrived at our last task point.

Maybe that was the reason why Edward let me go with Mike? Maybe he knew that Mike would… '_give up_' – even though I was sure he'd never let Edward know voluntarily.

"So, last task. Hmm…" Mike was standing next to the task box, holding a pink piece of paper in his hands. "We have to search for a '_perfect'_ crutch. Shouldn't be too hard, what do you think?"

"Depends on your interpretation of the word '_perfect'_. But let our search begin, maybe we will be able to arrive as the second group?"

While speaking, I let my eyes wander through the woods surrounding us. The sun was setting and so, the search wasn't an easy one – the light faded and the different greens of the forest all looked kind of grey – different shades, but it made the search harder. I set my feet carefully – the path had stopped and the ground was covered in leafs and stones. Sure enough, just when I thought I found a nice little crutch, I felt myself losing balance. My foot was tangled in a stupid root.I braced myself for the fall, throwing my arms in a protective manner in front of me – hopefully that would stop my fall before I could hit my head or something like that.

"_Ow_!" The ground was harder than I had expected.

"Bella!" Mike was by my side as fast as he could make his way towards me. "What happened?"

"Oww… Just a stupid root." Had the ground always been so hard? I couldn't recall the last time I had a meeting with it. "Outsh." I got up and leaned on a nearby tree, searching for my lost balance. My hands had stopped the fall but they looked that way, too. The skin on my palms was scratched, but luckily, it didn't bleed. Nevertheless, Edward wouldn't be happy. I was absolutely positive that he would see it as soon as I'd come in his sight.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked when he saw my frown.

"Yes, thanks for asking. Just some scratches. We should search on, it's getting dark already and we still have to get to the finish _and_ back to the camp."

I heard him chuckling low next to me. "Scared by the night?" He asked.

"No. But scared by loose stones, stupid leaves and tangling roots – _while_ it is dark and I'm in a forest. I have enough problems with those when it's a bright day." And Edward isn't righ next to me.

Mike laughed out loud but restarted his search for the perfect crutch. A few moments later, I joined him again – although I was even more careful now.

"Here, that should be one." Mike said and hold a tiny crutch in front of my face.

"That's pretty… small, isn't it?"

"The task didn't say how large it should be, did it?" He answered with a smug grin.

"No, it didn't."

That was when we heard voices from the path behind us.

"Did you hear that?" Mike asked.

"Yes. Sounds as if Jessica and Emmett are close-by." Wow. Lucky Jess. I could imagine that Emmett had to solve the most of the tasks – they could never be so fast if she would have to do all those on her own.

"We should hurry, then. Please don't get me wrong but that's a thing don't like about the Cullens: They are always much too fast for my taste."

With that, we made our way as fast as possible to the finish – whereas '_fast'_ is a very subjective term. To me, it was fast, since we were in a forest and the light was fading. Mike tried to hurry but that wasn't easy since he had to wait several times for me.

As we left the last ferns and trees behind us, we came to a meadow. Well, it wasn't like Edward's and my meadow at all. Just a patch of green surrounded by even more green. No flowers, just grass. Nevertheless, there was one thing that let me forget about everything else: My personal god leaned smiling on a tree on the other side of the meadow, arms open and waiting for me to join him.


	15. Chapter fiveteen Games

AN: Several people asked if chapter 14 was the end to this story. I thought really hard about it but can't find any line which would give that impression o.O Trust me, there are still several chapters coming ;) (Though most of this story is done)

Argh. Again, I had to fight for every word. These are times I really wish for a writing software that gets everything I want to be written down right out of my head -.- "Edward-Soft" or something like that. It's not that I didn't know what would happen next – I was just too lazy to type it down …

I'm going to put a dot in longer paragraphs, for example when the scenery changes or the "theme" of the block does. You'll know what I mean when it comes to that ;) Please tell me if it's a good idea or not so I know about your opinion when I write the next chapter. In my opinion, it help's a little to structurize the text.

Disclaimer: (I think, I forgot this the last chapters...) I don't own Twilight

* * *

Chapter 15 – Drawings 

I made my way across the small meadow as fast and carefully as I could – I was pretty sure I looked ridiculous trying that. The ground was partially covered in leafs and I already had my personal meeting with the damp forest floor. There was no need for me to have yet another.

"Hey, beautiful." Edward whispered into my ear after I'd reached him and threw myself into his waiting arms. Our little game took nothing more than one and a half hours, nevertheless it felt like days when I had last touched him.

I put my forehead on his shoulder, slowly taking in his scent. "Hey." I couldn't get more words past my lips.

He lifted my chin so our eyes could meet and leaned down until our lips were only mere inches apart. "I missed you." He whispered. Before my scattered mind could think of a reply, his marble lips moved against mine.

As our kiss ended, I saw him smiling above my shoulder. I turned around and from the corner of my eye – Edward wouldn't let me turn around fully – I could see who he was smiling at:  
Mike.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on my girlfriend, Mike." Edward said just loud enough so my game partner could hear him. I heard Mike snort and he turned around, busying himself with some twigs and leafs.

Edward shot a toothy grin at his back, than looked down into my brown eyes again. "But he could have done a better job..." He mused as he took scratched palms in his hand, looking at them. I was about to tell him how perfectly normal it was for me to fall down and hurt myself while he wasn't around, but then I felt his cool and soothing lips on the scratches. It felt wonderful and my lips escaped a small sigh.

Edward looked down into my eyes, through his lashes. "Feels good?" He asked. His lips formed the crooked smile I loved so much.

"You can't imagine exactly _how_ good..." I smiled timidly.

For a while, we stood just there while he caressed my hands with his cool lips and fingers. Then, something came into his mind and he smiled curiously down to me. "Did you have any problems with the tasks?" He asked.

"Uhm…" My head needed a moment to pull itself together again. "No, not really. Though I think that our drawing was… well… let's just forget about that."

His eyes twinkled with curiosity. "May I ask what you had to draw?" Remembering something, he added: "Our task said Alice and I had to draw a rabbit."

I chuckled. Oh, how I wished _that_ would've been our task… "You'll see it later. We still have to compare, don't we? Ah, and by the way: How do you know that we all have similar tasks?"

Edward gave me a look that clearly said I had forgotten about an obvious fact.

"You eavesdropped on Mike and me, didn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Do you really think that I'd let you be alone with _Newton_?" Good question. Although he could replace '_Newton_' with the name of any other male being on this planet. "And by the way: Last night, I may have tried to keep the boys out of my head but still they planned this game in our cabin. I heard all of it."

I let my forehead lean against Edward's cold chest once again. "Well… In that case, you already know what we had to draw."

Letting one of his arms lay around my waist, my beloved vampire put his free hand on the back of my head, carefully stroking it.

"I was _listening_ but not _looking_, Bella. Would you _please_ show your drawing to me? Not knowing is hard." He murmured directly into my ear. Lucky for me, he didn't use his vampire power, so I could say no – although it was really, _really_ hard.

"Edward, Mike has that stupid piece of paper and before you're going to ask him… I know something that would keep your lips busy, too..." I tried to sound at least a little bit seductive so he'd forget about that piece of paper. I looked up at him and tried –in vain, of course - to dazzle him just like he always does but of course, he had to counter that. When he spoke, I felt like melting wax in his hands.

"So? Grand me the chance for a guess..." Once again, he lifted my chin so our eyes met, his golden orbs smoldering into mine. His voice was like flowing honey. His voice was little more than a whisper, just loud enough for my less sensitive human ears to hear. "That..._Something_ as you call it, it has to do with this, right?" Slowly, he let his nose skim from my ear to my chin and back. "Or this." I felt his marble lips lightly kissing random patterns on my forehead. "Maybe this, too..." His voice let my feet melt and suddenly, I was only hold by Edward's strong arms. My lips escaped a small surprised sound. All the while, as if nothing had happened, his lips put kisses as soft as the touch of a butterfly's wing down from my forehead until only one inch parted them from my own lips. "But maybe, you were only thinking about _something_ like this…" His lips crashed on mine in a passionate way, leaving me completely breathless. _Breathing is overrated. _His tongue graced my bottom lip and I was more than just eager to grand him entrance. It was a good thing Edward was holding me, I would've already collapsed to the ground by now.

As I felt the typical lightheadedness creep into me, Edward broke our kiss – but again, his lips lingered only inches from me, calling me. It was a hard fight to refuse their call.

"Breathe, Bella." He whispered, sending his sweet breath around my head – that definitely didn't help.

"I'm working on that." My breaths came ragged but so did his.

I could feel something rough and solid in my back and when I freed my vision from the blur, I realized that Edward was supporting his weight with his arm above my head, leaning on the tree behind me. His strong grip around my wast didn't loosen only one bit – but I wouldn't complain.

Then something crossed my mind.

"Where..." I was sure before our kiss we were standing on a meadow – but I couldn't see it from where I was standing.

Edward silenced me before I could end the sentence by holding one of his slender fingers to my lips. "Did you really think I'd do something like _that_ in front of Mike?" He let out a low chuckle. "No my dear, this is something between you and me. Do you remember the moment when you... well... Lost your sense of balance?" His eyes were still doing this unfair smoldering from before and I could clearly see the humor twinkling in them.

My cheeks were set on flame. Of course, I didn't think that he wouldn't notice my loss of balance – in fact, I didn't think about anything when that happened – but that he had to mention it... "Well, I don't know how I can lose something I never owned, but... yes?"

"Mike was still busy with some leafs and twigs and I used the opportunity to get to some place more... private. Any late objections?" He looked like the cat that got the cream.

"M-hm." I shook my head no. Of course I had no objections – I'd be crazy if I would have any. By now, I had already forgotten about what we had been talking before his breathtaking kiss.

His eyes still held mine prisoner. "I think, I'll have to be more careful with you…" He mused. I had to stop_that_ thought right there.

"Now,_that's_ a thought I have to object to." My voice sounded breathless. "And Edward?"

"Hm?" His crooked smile played around his lips.

"If you don't get your lips out of my reach, something's bound to happen to them."

He laughed freely about that – and maybe about the new shade of scarlet on my cheeks.

He tried to calm down, took a deep breath, while closing his eyes – but never made any movement away from me. Now I got to know the true meaning of a '_siren's call_'…

Only one or two heartbeats later, when he opened his eyes again, he looked at me through his long lashes. "So… Where would be the problem in that?" He whispered, before his cold lips came down on mine once more. This time, the kiss didn't even touch any of his boundaries but I was perfectly content nevertheless.

Eventually, our kiss came to an end because of a lack of air on the human side.

"Let's get back, my love. I can already hear Emmett's footsteps – I think, he and Jessica will be the next to arrive." He pushed himself away from the tree, holding me by my hand so I got the chance to regain the little balance I had.

"Okay." I agreed. I'd never understand how someone could hear Emmett. All right, Edward had his vampire hearing but anyway: To me, his brother was just as silent as every other Cullen. Sometimes, it could give me the creeps. Without thinking, I walk around a corner and –whump- run straight into him. I was perfectly sure he always did that on purpose.

Together, we arrived at the meadow again. It had been only a few meters and I wondered if Mike noticed our absence. But since he was still standing on the other side of the clearing, I suspected he didn't.

Alice mentioned with her index finger for me to join her under that huge tree she was leaning against. I heard Edward chuckle, then he let go of my hand. "I don't think she'd be happy if I'd accompany you, my love." With that, he winked at me.

A little bit confused, I joined Alice.

"You're playing with fire there, you know?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

Oops. My thoughts got back to our… kiss and how it would have looked to any bystander. I felt the familiar blush creeping on my cheeks and bit down my lower lip.

"I have _no_ idea what you are talking about…" I was a terrible liar.

Her smirk widened. "Yeah, _sure_. Just let me get _this_ into your head: If you go on like this, I'll stop helping. You are making me feel completely useless."

I looked down to the grass-covered ground, lightly kicking a loose stone. "Okay, Alice, I'll be on my guard now." I vowed. Never mind the fact that it was an absolute fruitless attempt.

"Better late than never, my dear." She commented chuckling.

As if to show her how hard I was going to try from here, I didn't go back to Edward but leaned on the tree just like she did – but on her right side, so she would block me from Edward's sight. Or him from mine for that matter.

I stared pointedly into the woods from where Mike and I had emerged, trying to ignore Edward's chuckles.

Only a few moments later, I could see Jessica stumble her way through the edge of the wood. Emmett was right behind her, eyeing her curiously as she tripped several times over quite a few roots. I wondered if it was because I rubbed off on her or if it was Emmett's presence in her back that made her clumsy.

"Third group… Well, that's ok." She frowned a bit as she realized who was already standing in the clearing.

Emmett smilingly handed her a little stack of differently colored papers. Jessica took them and went off to Mike, starting a conversation.

Emmett walked towards us, coming to a stop right next to me and leaned against the tree just like Alice and I did.

"How was it?" I asked curiously.

Emmett smiled down to me. "Not so bad, but _very_ slow. I could have sped things up but I had to let her do several things, too… Third place and beaten by a group of two humans. Just don't remind me of that again, ok?" He gave me a hopeful look.

That made me chuckle – Poor Emmett, defeated by Mike and me out of all people.

"Hey, that's not funny." He stated but humor twinkled in his eyes, as he carefully nudged me.

"Sure, Emmett." I tried to stifle my chuckles but with only little effect.

After almost ten minutes, Emmett sank down to the ground, leaning his back against the trunk. "The others should hurry up." He whispered almost too low for me to hear.

I sat down myself, giving him a questioning look. "Are you getting impatient?"

He looked at me from the corners of his eyes when he answered: "No, but those two" He mentioned with a slight nod of his head towards Mike and Jessica, "are feeling quite uncomfortable." He smiled but his eyes were serious.

Alice was sitting now, too and started to explain when she sensed I didn't fully understand the meaning of Emmett's words. "Bella, there are three vampires in this clearing and three humans. In addition, we are pretty far away from any civilization. Their subconscious isn't happy about those two factors so they feel a little… edgy right now. Although they don't even know, why they do."

That made sense and as if on cue, my own subconscious sent a chill down my spine as it came to the same conclusions as Mike's and Jessica's.

Emmett sent me a warm smile and nudged me once more. "Hey, nothing's going to happen."

I smiled timidly up at him. "I know." Sometimes I could curse my subconscious for sending out signs like these. Why couldn't it just stop? I mean, it's not like it would serve any purpose. Would I be in any real danger because of a vampire – or more than one – a chill down my spine wouldn't save my life.

I stopped my train of thought there and tried to distract me with other things. No need to think about blood-eyed vampires now.

Half an hour later, we heard several footsteps quickly approaching the clearing.

"Finally." Emmett sighed and stood up again. Alice and I followed suit, watching the edge of the forest.

"First!" Eric exclaimed when his feet reached the clearing. Tyler was only one or two meters behind him, followed by Angela and Lauren.

"Hey, not fair! You partner didn't trip every few meters!" Tyler tried to justify himself. He better did not say that…

"What?_Trip_?!" Lauren stared him down. "You _shoved_ me half of the time! As if _I_ would trip like somebody else!"

Tyler flinched and backed away from his angry game partner. "Lauren, I didn't mean it that way, I mean…"

"Yeah, sure." Her voice was acid and with a huff, she spun around and joined Mike and Jessica, giving Tyler no possibility to say anything else.

Suddenly, I could feel Edward's cold arms around my waist from behind and looked up to meet his eyes.

"I_really_ don't like that _girl_." He hissed, gently holding me against his chest. "And by the way: she is wrong."

"What do you mean?"

Edward's lips twitched as he answered. "Tyler replays in his head what happened on the last meters. He didn't shove her once. Lauren just isn't the forest-type of girl."

I snuggled closer against Edward but couldn't hide the small smile from my lips – and the thought that it serves her right from my mind.

Emmett, Alice, Edward and I joined the small group of teenagers at the other end of the small clearing, ready to compare our results.

It took only about ten minutes when we reached the end of our comparing-session: Our drawings.

Tyler was the first one to show his drawing of a… well… yes. Good question. It wasn't more than a deformed black… something.

"Tyler? What's that?" Angela asked tentatively, pointing on the piece of paper.

He frowned. "Well, _obviously_, that's a bird."

Now, everybody looked questioning at him. "Well then… Where are its wings?" Alice asked.

"It's sitting, not flying." Lauren commented acidly.

"Okay, but then it should at least have legs, shouldn't it?" Mike pointed out, poking his friend.

Without much thinking, Tyler tried to justify himself once more: "It's_sitting_. You don't see its legs."

"One last remark then. Where is its beak?" Edward looked skeptically down on the crumpled paper, trying to hide the smile from his face.

Tyler crumpled his paper in his hands, shoving it back into his back pocket. "It's a silhouette and it's looking at the observer, so you don't see its beak." Apparently, Tyler and Lauren weren't the best ones when it came to drawings… Good. So our bear wouldn't be the worst drawing, I thought with some relief.

Mike was the next one to show our masterpiece to the world.

"So, that's our drawing. And before anyone asks: It's a bear." He grinned and held our drawing up so everybody could get a good look at it.

"Wow." Tyler breathed and it made me chuckle.

"That's a nice bear." Angela commented while smiling at me. Somehow, she knew that it was my drawing and not Mike's.

"_That's_ a _bear_?" Emmett asked unbelieving. He took the small paper from Mike's hand and held it closer to his eyes, searching for something – as if he couldn't see every small "_detail_" of it from across the clearing.

"Yes, Emmett, that's a _bear_. To be precise: It's a _grizzly_." I commented with a small grin on my face.

I heard Alice and Edward chuckle besides me but chose to ignore them. Of course to them, my idea how a grizzly looks like would be hilarious. Nevertheless, I liked my drawing. I hadn't drawn anything in a long time but even so, it didn't look nearly as bad as Tyler's bird.

Emmett looked at me as if I lost my mind. "A grizzly. You've got to be kidding me." That was a statement. He handed the drawing back to Mike.

"Well,_ I_ think, it's a nice grizzly." Angela commented. "Who thinks it really is a grizzly: Rise your hand. We'll make a vote."

After a moment of consideration, Mike, Tyler, Angela, me and even Lauren rose our hands. Of course the vampires in our small round didn't.

"So, it's set: That bear is a grizzly." I grinned and had to fight down the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a five year old. "And since there are more people who think like that, it's clear that you have _no _idea how a _real_ grizzly looks like." A slight blush crept into my cheeks, warming them up. I didn't want to say that but somehow, it slipped out.

Emmett shot me a cold glare which sent chills down my spine – but his lips betrayed him: They twitched in amusement. He looked to Edward, who was leaning on a tree, having his hands in the pockets of his trousers. "My _dearest_ brother, may I…?" He trailed off but nodded his head in my direction. I inched closer to Alice.

Edward shot me a toothy grin but looked back at his brother. "No, I'm afraid I can't let you do anything to her, Emmett… "

Mike folded the piece of paper and shoved it back into his pocket. "Hey, no fights now, we aren't finished yet."

One last time, Emmett grinned to me and whispered: "Okay, I'll take a number. Beware, little girl."

Once again, I inched closer to a madly grinning Alice.

"So, who's next?" Mike asked.

Jessica searched for the right piece of paper and showed it to us. "Emmett drew a deer." She explained needlessly.

All our mouths – well, except for the vampire ones – hung open. I snatched the piece of paper from Jessica's hand and looked more closely. Oh, my… Maybe that was just my imagination but I got the impression that this deer was really terrified. Everything looked like it – its stance, the way it looked, even it's _eyes_.

Lauren took it from my hands and I could feel Emmett chuckle besides me. "Never seen a deer so far?" He grinned.

"Show-off." I muttered. I never thought that Emmett was able to draw something photo-realistic.  
Apparently, he was.  
Of course.  
He's a vampire.

"Well, that's ours… Although I'm not really sure about showing it right after Emmett's deer." Angela murmured while holding up her piece of paper. It showed a simple kind of fish.

"Now, that's… pretty plain." Lauren scoffed with a slight smirk on her face.

Alice shot her an evil grin. "You should be silent, Mrs. That's-a-bird. I like her drawing. It may be simple but you can clearly see that it shows a fish." Lauren shut her mouth and looked at the ground, not wanting to get on Alice's bad side.

"So… That leaves you." I stated and looked from Edward to Alice. My hopefully soon-to-be sister in-law searched for a light pink piece of paper with a rabbit on it and held it up with a small smile.

"Awwww…. How _cute_!" Jessica squealed while all the boys in our round just rolled their eyes. Anyway, she was right: Alice's rabbit was definitely the cutest drawn animal I'd ever seen.

The drawing went from girl to girl, every one telling Alice how adorable the little animal looked. It reminded me a little bit of Thumper from the Disney movie Bambi – the only difference was that Alice's looked more real.

"Oh, come on girls, that's just a bunny, no need to get all girly about it." Mike stated – he recognized too late that he should have better said nothing.

"Don't you _dare_ insult the rabbit!" Jessica hissed in his direction. Slowly, Mike backed away.

If looks could kill, Mike would be dead when Lauren turned her gaze towards him. Luckily, they couldn't. "And what do you mean: 'all_girly_'?! You clearly lost some of your brain cells this morning, didn't you?" She hissed.

"Uhm, I didn't… I mean…" Poor Mike stammered.

"One more word and trust me, we'll get you back to that waterfall." Jessica glared at him. Standing next to Edward, Mike's skin color almost resembled the one of my beloved vampire boyfriend. I couldn't hide a smile from my lips. Mike surely knows how to get into trouble.

"I'm happy you like it." Alice said so everybody could focus on something different. The paper was handed back to her and the last part of our discussion could begin: Who would have to clean up what tomorrow morning.

"Well…" Mike cleared his throat before continuing "Since no one had a worse drawing than Tyler and well… Lauren," timidly he glanced into her direction "and since those two have already been the last ones to arrive, there will be no difference in the order who has to do what. Alice and Edward? You're free to do whatever you like. You don't need to do anything since you were the first ones to arrive. Bella and I will have a look at the girl's and boy's cabin after everyone got their things out of them. I told the owner of this place that we wouldn't leave any rubbish behind. Emmett and Jessica, you will have to take care of the kitchen and Tyler and Lauren… Well, you'll get the bathing cabin." While saying the last sentence, he never took his gaze from the grassy ground, afraid of what he would see in Lauren's face. Maybe he thought that she would really be able to kill him only with her eyes? Lauren cleaning the bathroom… I had to take a deep breath to stop the grin from my face and giggling in my chest before it could make its way to the surface.

Tyler's and Emmett's groups didn't look too happy but didn't say anything against the plans.

"Since that's done, I think, we should head back to the camp. The sun's already pretty low and I don't really like to have to hike through the woods in the darkness. Let's go!" Somehow it was like an unwritten agreement: Mike was the leader of this trip. Hardly any of the other boys had said anything against his decisions so far – not even Edward and that surprised me a bit.

Together, we made our way across the clearing again. Mike told us that there would be a street leading back to the camp several meter behind the trees. Well, at least, I wouldn't have to trip my way back through the forest…

Mike and Jessica took the lead, whereas Mike still looked a bit uncomfortable. I didn't listen to what Jessica told him but I heard the word 'rabbit' several times.

Tyler, Lauren, Eric and Angela followed after them. A few meters behind, Emmett and Alice walked side by side and silently laughing – I suppose because of the things the others said.

In the back, it was just Edward and me. Why wasI always at the back? I mean, normally I wouldn't say anything against it, but since I had to be on my guard it was a stupid idea to be at the back of our group.

I felt Edwards cool fingers carefully stroking over the back of my hand. I took my gaze from the roots in front of my feet to look up into his eyes. He sent me my favorite crooked smile and took my hand in his.

"Your imagination concerning grizzlies is kind of cute." He said with a slight smirk.

I bit down on my lip and grinned a little. "Cute? I worked so hard on his teeth and claws and everything I get is '_cute'_?" I raised one eyebrow at him.

"Well, I suppose Emmett's going to show you some films about that species just to correct your view on those animals. Their teeth and claws may be lethal but those you put on your poor teddy would put a saber-toothed tiger to shame." He ruffled my hair with his free hand, all the while smirking.

"Teddy. Great. Now it's not even a real bear anymore." I tried to fake some hurt in my voice but couldn't even get my face to show a frown. Way to go, Bella. You really shouldn't become an actress.

As I looked to the front once more – it was just too easy to lose myself in Edward's golden eyes – we were pretty far behind the others. But there was something odd.

Emmett's arm was draped around Alice's shoulders and she tried to turn herself around, miserably failing against Emmett's strength.

My head told me that something was going wrong.

My gut told me to make a run and get to Alice before Edward would use the space between us and the rest of our group to do something stupid.

But finally, Edward's slender fingers over my mouth and his impish grin told me that it was already too late to do anything.

* * *

So...One last question that has nothing to do with this story: Is there a shop in the USA where you can buy all kinds of crayons? I'm talking about a really HUGE section where you would need some time to sort through all crayons. I really need to know that - I have a small Oneshot in my head where I need the name of a shop like that... 


	16. Chapter sixteen Surrender

AN: Have fun reading it ;) The end isn't so far away anymore… ;)

I just checked (out of curiosity ;) ) the stats of this fanfic… I almost fell from my chair. 20.618 hits o.O° Wow… \hugs everyone who's reading\ Thank you all (Yepp, I know that this statistic can be easily manipulated but still, I'm sooooo impressed :)! I was writing stories before this one (not fanfic) and I was happy when I got 5 clicks on the story – and I had to beg to get them. You can't guess how I'm feeling right now!)

I reread the last chapter for spelling-errors but somehow, I couldn't find them. Thanks to everyone who points them out - maybe I'm just too tired to see them... So, this is one of the "excuses" why this chapter took so long: I re-read it several times to erase the most spelling-errors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and the characters.

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Surrender**

Edward stared deep into my eyes, using all his unfair vampire abilities to keep me from moving – although breathing seemed to be allowed. I felt like the deer in the headlights: Sensing what was coming but just not able to get away.

I don't know how long we had been standing like that but suddenly I noticed that I couldn't hear the others anymore. Not even Alice, who had tried to get away from Emmett but hopelessly failed. But that was ok, I mean… What would have happened if the others would have noticed? I had told the other girls that Edward was after me for putting him through our torture this morning, so it was plausible that they would have tried to come to my aid if they noticed my absence too early. Of course by now, they would most likely have noticed our absence but Emmett or Alice would have an explanation so they wouldn't come looking.

Great.

I was on my own.

But maybe, that was the best. I mean, I couldn't possibly let the other girls touch Edward. Well, except for Alice maybe, but she had already stated this morning: Edward would win in a match against her, especially if they had to fight like humans. Alice was just too small to win against Edward – from a human's perspective.

Edward hadn't moved his cold finger so much as an inch but the victorious grin on his face became more prominent as the minutes went by. Finally, he slid his finger down until he rested it just underneath my chin. I sucked in a ragged breath. He was still gazing down into my brown eyes but it seemed as if he had stopped most of his unfair vampire powers.

Hearing my intake of air, he snickered lowly. "Poor Bella, have I been unfair again?" He teased with a wide grin – although his eyes held a small amount of caution, as if to make sure he didn't offend me or something like that.

I tried to stare him down but it didn't surprise me that it didn't work. "Yes, you were." I whispered, trying to break away from his golden orbs. I had to face the fact that I tried in vain: I was already drowning in them, I was in too deep.

Slowly, he moved his head forward, fanning his breath over my face. My reaction was as predictable as always: I leaned in a bit but since he was already expecting it – maybe even counting on it – he used it to his favor. Skimming the tip of his nose over my own one, I closed my eyes without much thought. I knew I was being dazzled but _knowing_ about it and _doing_ something about or even _against_ it were totally different matters.

For a brief – too brief for my taste – second, I felt his icy and cold lips gracing mine but before I could only begin to think about reacting, his movement stopped. Slowly, I opened my eyes. They needed a short amount of time to readjust.

We were back in the clearing. I blinked several times, like trying to get rid of a mirage, but still, we were standing in the middle of the clearing. My forehead creased deep in thought. When did that happen? And where was Edward?

I spun around several times, searching the edge of the forest for any sign of him.

"You look cute when you are puzzled." His silky voice teased from behind.

I turned around and saw him standing three or four meters apart from me, completely relaxed with his hands in the pockets of his trousers - just like this morning in our cabin. The crooked smile I loved so much played on his features and his eyes seemed to sparkle. I couldn't stop the smile that was spreading on my face as I looked at him, despite the fact that he tried to tease me.

"How did we get here?" I couldn't come up with any reply to his statement, so I just spoke out loud what came to my mind then.

He shot me a wide grin. "Do you know that you are horrible unobservant to your surroundings when you kiss me? However briefly?" He continued his teasing – this time, it sent the familiar warmth into my cheeks.

"That's not really my fault, is it?" I shot back. The tiny voice in the back of my head almost screamed at me that I should use this short time of bantering to look for a way out of my impending "doom". For once, I listened to that voice and carefully, I let my eyes skim over the edge of the forest once more, hoping Edward wouldn't notice.

Of course, he did.

Again, his eyes held the victorious sparkle from before. "You won't find a way out, Bella."

I bit on my lip for a second but stopped it as soon as I noticed it. "Well, that's what _you_ say…" It was a hollow threat, both of us knew that. I focused back on him and before he could say anything, had to ask a question that was bugging me since I'd become aware of where we were. "Why are we back in the clearing, Edward?" Carefully and as slow as I could be, I tried to back off, getting more space between my beloved vampire and me.

Edward let out a low chuckle and looked through his long and dark lashes. "Well, I think, it's easier for you to surrender in style while having some space around you…" He mused – and this time, it was his turn to bite on his lip. Did I rub off on him?

But wait.

"Surrender? In _style_?" I felt my mouth hanging open slightly. He didn't really just tell me to surrender, did he? And what in the world did he mean by 'in _style_'?

He just nodded his head yes, his eyes still boring into my own ones, twinkling with humor.

I backed off a little more. Sure, he would notice, but it didn't matter to me then. "So… What do you mean by 'in style'?" I asked. "Do you want me to fall to my knees, begging for forgiveness for what I did this morning?" I teased a little, hoping that I wouldn't taint his happy mood with that comment – or maybe even worse: getting him to like that idea.

Apparently, I didn't, at least as far as my first concern was concerned. "Sounds nice." He stated and I saw silent chuckles rippling through his body. Still, he tried to look relaxed, although I got the feeling that he really wasn't.

As I chewed on the inner side of my cheek, I got an idea. It was one of the stupidest I could come up with and clearly not promising, but just trying to _run _or '_drop to my knees and surrender_' wasn't an overly appealing thought, either.

The more time it took for me to think, the more prominent became the victorious twinkle in his eyes. "Is the fact that you lost so hard to accept, Bella?" His voice was like sweet honey. Maybe he thought he didn't need his unfair I-can-make-you-do-whatever-I-want voice, since it was almost easy to get back to my own thoughts without giving in.

My beloved vampire set one foot in my direction, waiting for my reaction. So… Should I try? There was no way to win, but somehow, the pure thought felt like an itch and I had to scratch.

"Well, not really, Edward." I backed away once more. It was surprising how much room was left behind me and that I accomplished to take several steps backward without tripping or falling down. He eyed me curiously, trying to decipher what I wanted to do next. He'd never guess. "But… Trust me, this one time I won't go down without a fight."

That took him off-guard. He stooped his movements and rose his perfect eyebrows in utter confusion, blinking several times. "I beg your pardon?" He didn't believe me – well, I didn't either, but anyway. "You _didn't_ just _challenge_ me, did you?" He asked pretty amused.

I tried to remember what I had learned about finding a stable stand – not that it would help me, but at least, I had to try. If he wanted to, he could just come here and sweep me off of my feet. But maybe I'd be able to dive to one site before he would reach me?

_Yeah, sure_. A little, pessimistic – ok, _realistic_ – voice in my head told me. _If_ I'd see Edward vanish, it would already be too late. I could completely understand why he looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

I just grinned back at him, fighting the urge to fall into a laughing fit. It would ruin my plan.

"So, you _are_ really sure about this." Edward stated, a lovely smirk on his face. Simultaneously, he shook his head in amused disbelief and crouched down like a wildcat, preparing to attack. "Last chance to back out." He grinned, low chuckles evident in his silken voice.

I swallowed once, trying to fight back the growing chills. I knew nothing would happen to me but seeing Edward like this always had a certain… reaction on my side. He crooked his head to one side and gave me a warm smile accompanied with a wink. I backed off two more feet and kneeled down, one hand on the forest floor. If I really wanted to try and dive out of his way, than I had to make sure I wouldn't fall down. Already being on the floor meant less possibility to hurt myself.

He eyed every one of my moves curiously, trying to guess what I had in my mind. I had to put this moment on my list of 'moments in which I'm happy Edward can't read my mind'. That list was nearly endless by now.

For several moments, we were just watching each other's movement – or the lack of them. Edward was as still as stone, although his eyes told a completely different story. They sparkled like only his eyes were able to. He would probably never admit it but he seemed to enjoy my choice of trying to fight him.

I knew what would happen next when my eyes registered a tiny movement in his shoulders. I couldn't name what he was doing but sure enough, not even a heartbeat later, he vanished. My head worked on overdrive: Left? Right? Left? Right? _Left_! Only a second later, I was laying with my belly facing the ground on my right site.

Huh?  
So much for mixing up directions.

I felt a sudden movement in the air above me but didn't dare to move. As soon as I didn't feel it anymore, I heard some leafs rustle behind me.

I spun around, now with my back to the ground, propped up on my elbows, looking at my beloved and pretty startled vampire boyfriend. I couldn't win the fight against my erupting laugher this time.

"Interesting technique." He complimented while kneeling only one or maybe two meters away from me. One hand on the ground, he brushed a twig out of his hair with his left hand.

"I just had to try." I said when I had pulled myself together again. "Although I'm perfectly sure you just played along and let me get away with it." Every now and then, a low chuckle went through my body.

Edward just smirked at me and suddenly, the space he had occupied was empty. I blinked several times, trying – in vain – to sense where he was but only a few seconds later, he reappeared right in front of me.

Or maybe I should say '_above_ me'.

I was so startled that I slid down a little. Edward's head was mere inches from mine, his eyes boring into my brown ones. "Of course I did, my love." He whispered, swirling the air around me with each and every word he said.

Unintentionally, I leaned in a little, my head in a daze. He skimmed his nose over mine and for the third time in this meadow, vanished.

I drew in a ragged breath. I could hear his ghostly chuckle but wherever I looked, I couldn't point out where Edward would be. A little voice in my head was moping over the fact that Edward didn't kiss me but for once, I had to ignore that voice. When Edward didn't take the chance to make me surrender, he was up to something else…

I sat up, kneeling on the leafy forest floor once again with my hands on the ground in front of me. What was he up to?

Even before that thought came to its end, I felt Edward's cool presence around me: All of a sudden, my arched back was touching his stony chest and his hands were placed directly next to mine. The only way to get away from him was now right in front of me – but I had to face the fact that he wouldn't let me escape once more.

I felt Edward's tip of his nose on my neck, as he tried to push my hair away without using his hands. I felt like being paralyzed.

I had to remind me of how to breathe. It was getting harder and harder as the minutes passed by and Edward tried successfully to distract me. His lips were at the side of my neck now, putting loving kisses up and down on it.

I felt my shoulders slumping slightly, as if in defeat. I wasn't planning on giving up yet, but what else could I do?

"Are you going to surrender _now _or do I have to be unfair again?" He breathed directly into my ear.

Sucking in a deep breath, I straightened my shoulders once more and retorted: "Well, you already are." My voice sounded shaky.

His chuckles sent small shivers down my spine since his cool breath was directly at my neck – a very tender point of my body. Edward knew.

As I thought of a way to get out, he gently put his hands over my own ones, supporting his weight with his knees on my left and right side. My mind almost didn't register when he pried my hands away from the grassy ground – my head was struggling to fight through the thick fog that Edward's cool breath and sweet scent caused to my mind.

I knew this was the end of my little try to be rebellious. I couldn't find even a tiny bit of strength and stubborness left to carry on.

Edward took my hands in his cold ones and crossed my arms over my chest, while kissing my neck once more. "Any last wishes?" He quoted Alice's rhetorical question from earlier this morning. His voice was accompanied by low chuckles. As I wasn't able to voice anything coherent anymore, I just slowly shook my head no and closed my eyes in defeat– a smile never leaving my face.

Edward gently pushed me closer against his chest and I felt a small breeze on my face as he leaned back on the ground, holding me close. If this was what 'surrendering' to Edward meant, I would have to do it more often.

I felt Edward move underneath me again and all of a sudden, I was facing him – he had turned me around before I could open my eyes. Holding both of my wrists in his steel-like –nevertheless gentle – grip of one of his hands, he started slowly stroking my back while gazing deep into my eyes. I laid my head on his chest, happy that there was no way for me to suffocate him.

"You win." I whispered with a slight smirk on my lips. Of course he did.

His eyes were sparkling. "So… Does that mean you surrender to me?" He teased and gently poked the tip of my nose with his cold index finger.

"Well, I guess… Yeah, I think I have to surrender." I sighed in mock disappointment. His answering smile was radiant and rubbed off on me. Try as I might, I couldn't hide the warm smile from my face.

Edward gently stroke the loose strands of hair from my face and picked some leafs out of it, too. My head tried to think about what the others would say if I got back to the camp: twigs, leafs and dirt on my clothes and in my hair – but my more selfish side just told me that I would have enough time to think about that after our alone time and after Edward allowed me to get back. It didn't seem like that was anytime soon.

Several moments went by in comfortable silence and him stroking my back. Edward may be hard as a rock but somehow, it was always kind of… comfy when I lay on top of him – even though he still held my wrists in his hand.

The wide grin on his face slowly changed into a warm smile, the excitement in his eyes dimmishing. We were on the edge of getting lost in our own world once more but I knew we would have to get back to the camp eventually. My eyelids began to feel heavy and I was in the urgent need of some dinner. Being outside in the woods all day long was making me tired.

Edward sensed my train of thought and my favorite crooked smile played on his lips. "Well… What to do with you…" He mused, running his long index finger over the bridge of my nose. I let out a sigh and tried to shoot him the cutest look I could muster. _Please_, have some mercy…

Edward saw through my attempt. His smile was dazzling. "Trying to sooth me, my love?" Why, oh why does he have to guess everything right? Embarrassed, I laid my forehead on his stony chest. I could feel him chuckle underneath me while he put his hand on the back of my head, carefully caressing the nape of my neck. "Don't worry, it won't be too bad." He tried to assure me – in vain since he was laughing now.

"Oh, just tell me, please." I wailed. Hmmm…. I really liked what he did to my neck right then…

I could almost feel the grin on his face when he answered me. "No, not yet." I tried to glare up at him but since his eyes did that unfair smoldering thing – and his hands did the unfair thing in my neck – I couldn't accomplish my task.

"Oh, please, Edward." I sounded like a moping five year old, but it didn't really matter to me.

Sadly, he took his free hand from my neck – but instantly cupped the side of my face in it. "I have a very good idea what to do, Bella, but I need some time to think it through. And in addition… If I would tell you, you might think about trying to escape… That wouldn't be too good."

I rose an eyebrow at his last remark. What on the world did he think about? Oh, to be a mind-reader for once… But maybe I could ask Alice? "And don't try to worm it out of Alice, my love. She was allowed to help you _during_ my little hunt, nothing more. Trust me, she's not going to tell you what I'm thinking about."

I let out a long sigh. But wait a minute. "Hey, about Alice helping me." I looked up once more. "I can understand that _I_ needed help, but what about _you_?"

My question took him by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when we were on our way back to the camp and both of us were at the end of the group _again_, I'm sure Alice saw what would happen next – but Emmett held her back. Why did he help you?"

Edward blinked several times but then he laughed freely. "Bella, Emmett wasn't on my side. But he wasn't on _yours_, either." His wonderful laugher made it hard to concentrate on his words but somehow, I managed.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, still confused.

"Emmett told you he would get back on you, right?" Edward exclaimed with a wide smirk.

Oh, no. I felt like hitting my forehead with my hand – the only thing that kept me from doing that was Edward's hand which was still tight around my two wrists. So instead of my hands, I hit my forehead on Edward's stony chest. It didn't stop his good mood. In fact, I had a hard time trying not to grin myself. Sometimes, Emmett really acted as unfair as a big brother…

Suddenly, Edward released his hand from my wrists and put his now free arm around my back, still holding me close. I lifted my arms up until I could lay my head down on them.

"You're really not going to tell me, right?" I tried again when Edward had calmed down again.

He grinned down into my eyes. "That's right. I'm still a bit undecided… But trust me, it won't be so bad."

I let out a huff. "Yeah. Do you realize that you always say that when it comes to shopping, too?"

He stroke a loose strand of hair from my face but his only answer to that was an impish grin.

"Let's get back to the camp, okay?" My beloved vampire asked after several more minutes. "If we take more time for us two, they will grow suspicious. And neither you nor I want to listen to the things they come up with if we do." I felt a small shudder race through Edward as he thought about the things he would obviously have to listen to.

I freed one of my hands from under my chin and slowly stroke from his chin up to his temple. "Poor, mindreading vampire." I teased.

He leaned into my touch. "You would get to hear the most of their stories, too, my love."

"That's safe to say, yes." I nodded. Although I never liked the stories Jess and Lauren would come up with, I was already kind of used to them.

Nevertheless, he was right. We should head back, it was getting dark and my sleepiness was getting stronger.Edward removed his arm from my shoulders and slowly, I sat up. One of his legs was bent and I felt his knee in the back of me as I knelt above him. Never mind my sleepiness – Edward always knew how to make my heart race with the subtlest touch.

Sensing my train of thought, Edward propped himself up on his hands, until his head was almost on the same height as mine. The air around me was swirling again with his scent – wasn't there a point where it wouldn't affect me as much as it normally does?

"You're not making it easy for me right now, and I hope you realize that." I breathed out when my head had finally put together the small parts of thoughts I needed to speak.

Edward just chuckled and gently pressed his lips on my own ones. "Please forgive me; I'm in a _very _good mood and it is almost impossible to resist my more human parts right now." He murmured directly into my ear.

Since I couldn't come up with a coherent answer, I skimmed the tip of my nose from his cheek to his temple. I could feel him smile against me.

Sadly, even the most beautiful moments are coming to an end and the end of our alone time arrived when I felt a yawn built up inside me.

"Okay, let's get going. I suppose, you'd like to reach the camp while still being awake?" Edward asked. I didn't know how he did that but the next moment, we were both standing and he held me close to him so I wouldn't fall down again.

"I guess, you're right." I sighed.

He kissed me once more and then he proposed: "Come on, hop on my back and we will be back at the camp in the blink of an eye."

I looked doubtful into his eyes. What if someone would see him?

"Don't worry, Bella. No one's going to see me. I'll hear them and slow down in time."

I hugged him once more and then did as he'd asked. Of course, he would be careful. Why was I always so skeptical when it came to that?

He was right about the time it would take us – or better: him – to get to the camp. It couldn't have taken more than one or two minutes and our huts came into sight.

Edward slowed down considerably and I hopped down from his back to walk alongside him.

He led the way to the kitchen cabin. "Get your tins, the others are already at the campfire." He ordered and gave me a little, careful shove in the direction of the door.

"But I'm not hungry." I lyed. I wanted my bed and I wanted it badly - preferably without having to take my time to eat before. The sleepiness was getting stronger and stronger.

Stupidly, my stomach betrayed my words and grumbled even before I could finish the sentence.

"Bella, this day was long and exhausting. In addition, you've had only _lunch _today. I can understand why you are sleepy but trust me, you have to eat something." He stated. "Now, get yourself something. The longer you try to argue with me, the longer it will take you to get into bed." He couldn't hide the small grin from his face. Edward always knew when he had won.

Without a word, I turned around, headed into the kitchen, took my tinned ravioli, a bottle of soda and got back to my vampire.

"Okay, let's go."

"Bella!" Even before I could make out who was sitting where around the fire – it was bright and my eyes needed some time to adjust – Alice's voice broke me from my thoughts.

A few seconds later, she was standing right beside me, trying to drag me away from my beloved vampire.

"Hey, hey, hey, Alice! Wait a moment!" Trying to fight a dragging vampire is a futile attempt, but I had to try. "What's going on?" I asked when she finally released her hold on my arm, only a few feet away from Edward.

"Bella, I'm so sorry, I didn't know when he would try and –" Her voice was too low for the others to hear but loud enough for me.

"Alice, wait a moment." I proposed, trying to hide my amusement. "It's okay, trust me. And besides, it's not really _your_ fault you couldn't help me." I lifted my free hand to her shoulder, while keeping myself from glaring in Emmett's direction. "Really, it's okay."

She still looked a bit disappointed but that only lasted a few moments. When she finally looked back into my eyes, she gave me a small grin. "Would it lift your mood concerning my brother a little when I tell you that he already received a kind of punishment?"

I blinked. When would I start to understand why the Cullens liked to get back on each other all the time? "Punishment?"

"Yes. I told him what would await him if he would try something like that again. Trust me, he took my warning seriously." She explained grinning while we sat down on one of the trunks around the fire. Only now, with the fire heating up my skin, I felt how cool the night had become.

Edward had draped me in one of the blankets lying around so I wouldn't catch a cold while I stirred my dinner. All around us, the others were talking about several things that happened this day but I didn't really listen to their talk. I was just too tired and wanted to get under the covers of my bed.

Edward sent me a loving glance as I was yawning for the seventh time in a row and took the emptied tin of food from my hands. I hadn't realized it until then but the day was taking its toll on me: I had been ravenous. It had taken only a few minutes to wolf my dinner down. "Should I go and get you something else, Bella?" He whispered and I just nodded my head no while stretching my arms. It was time to get into bed.

Slowly, I shrugged the blanket off of me and stood up. "Good night, everyone." I yawned and started to walk towards the girl's cabin, Edward in tow. Well, not that I would take him with me into our girls-only-territory, it was more of the fact that he didn't seem to want to leave my side. Not that I would object to that. I gave him a questioning glance and he just smiled down into my eyes. "I'd much rather carry you but I don't think that would be a good idea… You might fall asleep in my arms and I would have to set yet another foot into your cabin. I can still remember the last time – I really have no intention of repeating that mistake." He winked at me when he added the last sentence. My head liked the idea of falling asleep in his cool arms more than I liked to think about it – I still had one night without Edward laying by my side and thinking about his absence wasn't a nice train of thought.

"Good night!" Everybody answered and I heard several chuckles in the crowd behind me.

"Bella, wait!" We were halfway to the cabin when I heard Jessica calling out for me. Sure enough, only several seconds later, she was standing right beside me. "I'll get into bed, too. This day was… tiresome." She explained but her eyes looked a bit troubled, somehow.

"Is everything okay, Jess?" I asked and felt my brows furrow a bit. Not until then I realized that she had been unusually quiet back at the campfire.

She looked into my eyes and gave me a timid smile. "Yeah, sure." Then, she turned around and headed to our cabin, her hands deep in the pockets of her trousers and shoulders slightly slumped.

"She's far from okay… What was she thinking about, Edward?" I asked when I could be sure she was out of earshot.

From behind, he sneaked his arms around my waist, cradling me close to his stony chest. "Nothing relevant, I'm sorry. She was thinking about today but I couldn't find anything concerning her mood." He whispered.

"Hmm…" I sighed. "Well, she will talk to me if she wants to." I turned around one last time, facing him. "But I fear I have to say good night to _you _now." I snuggled closer to him.

He stroked the back of my head. "I'm afraid you are right, my love." He whispered directly into my ear – his lips graced my earlobe and sent a pleasant chill down my spine. I felt him smile because of this reaction.

Slowly, he skimmed his tip of his nose from my ear to my own tip of my nose, gazing deep into my eyes. Sometimes, I wondered if he was equally "_dazzled_" by me like I was by him. I doubted it but anyway, his deep, golden eyes erased all thoughts from my mind.

"Good night then, Bella." He breathed and his face was adorned by the crooked smile I loved so much. "I can't wait for tomorrow." He added with a little sheepish grin.

Before I could say anything in return his lips met mine, regarding me with the sweetest good-night kiss I could think of. The tip of his tongue graced my bottom lip slightly without seeking entrance. Nevertheless, I was more than content with his scent and taste right on my lips.

"Good night." I breathed a little breathless when our kiss ended. Edward set me free again, stepping a step back and smiling at me. I smiled back and drowsily scuffled into our cabin.

The sight I was greeted with surprised me a bit. Jessica was sitting on her bed, leaning on the wall behind her, her head on her knees, looking deeply troubled. That clearly wasn't the Jessica I was used to.

"Hey." I said as I closed the door behind me, making my way towards her.

"Hey." She mumbled so low that I almost missed it. She didn't look at me but at the blanket she was sitting on.

I sat down across from her. "Jess? What's wrong?" I asked carefully.

"Wrong? Nothing. What gives you the impression that something's wrong?" Her tone was flat and she was still staring at the blanket.

"Jess, you're not really acting like yourself since Mike started the game. Something happened – normally, you would talk without end but tonight, you barely said anything."

For the first time, she looked up and met my gaze. "You won't tell anyone, promise me."

"I promise." I said sincerely and made myself more comfortable on the bed. Somehow, I didn't feel the tiredness from before. Maybe I was just past that point.

Jessica sighed but then, she started: "Well…"

* * *

I like cliffies :)

I have two oneshots in my head and can't decide which one I'm going to write down first… Gna. Ah, and by the way… I think, this story will have three or four more chapters until the end.

I could ramble on but I want this chapter online as soon as possible so I'm going to stop here ;)


	17. Chapter seventeen Stars

AN: Ew. It took more than half a year to write this chapter… I'm sorry ( During the summer months, I really forgot about the story… And the rest, well, I had my hands full of work. The next chapter will come out sooner than in half a year, I think, I could get my writing styles back to the level of the last chapter… Incredible how much a single person can forget about style when she isn't writing anything…

There will be one or two more chapters till the end but I still want to write some parts of the story in somebody else's POV… But I'm forbidding myself to do that before the story is finished.

Ah, and thank all of you for your comments, the cookies, the butt-kicking and so on ) Thanks for staying with this story! I hope, you like this chapter!

--

Chapter 17 – Stars

Jessica sighed and leaned on the wall behind her. "Well, you're right. Something happened this afternoon – well, maybe even sooner. Like… This morning."

Oh. Okay, I could already see where this was going now. I chose to stay silent and let her continue.

"I don't have to tell you why I passed out this morning at the waterfall. That topic was already covered back then and… No. _No_, I can't even say '_I'm sorry about_ _that'_ since I am most definitely not. It's not my fault that a certain boyfriend of a certain person looks so drop dead gorgeous."

That was just how Jessica worked: Trying to blame somebody else for who-knows-which-kind-of-reason and then continue to her own mistakes. Nevertheless, I had to fight a smile: The way she told that was slightly amusing – stupid gorgeous vampires.

Jessica looked up to meet my eyes but returned to stare at the blanket again only after a few seconds. "Mike wasn't happy. I mean: He didn't say anything about it directly, but… When we had to divide up into groups, he was so… ah, I don't _know_." She hit her head on her knees and sighed. "I guess, I shouldn't read so much out of it, but it bugs me."

When she didn't continue, I got the feeling that I really should say something. "Jess, don't be so hard to yourself. I'm sure Mike isn't angry at you."

"So? Really? Why would you think that, Bella? I mean, let's face the facts: I've been mean to him since he set a foot in this cabin. His wrists had been all sore and red when it was time to untie them. He didn't say anything on the trip to the waterfall, but…" She reached out to her pillow and pressed it to her chest. "Oh, Bella, he seemed so angry. And then, the whole waterfall-incident happened – vow to me that you won't tell anyone at school, please!" Her gaze bore into mine and I could see a spark of panic in her eyes. Jess loved to spread rumors herself but being the one those rumors centered around wasn't something she was used to.

I crossed my hand on my chest and said "I swear I won't tell anyone. In fact, I think, this won't even leave this camping ground. The guys won't spread the word themselves and Angela isn't a girl who would blackmail anyone. Alice surely had a blast watching but I doubt she would tell anyone either. And about Lauren… Hey, she fainted, too. I doubt she would say anything about you while it happened to her as well."

For a short time, it was silent in our cabin. Jess was fighting with herself, hoping I was telling the truth. She knew how easily rumors were spread.

A minute or maybe two passed in silence. Then, she let out a long sigh, relaxing a little. "Thank you, Bella. That sure was something I needed to hear now." She gave me a nervous but nevertheless honest smile. "But back to the problem at hand. You know, when Mike threw the towel, he didn't really like to do that in front of all of us. I mean: Really. His defeat was as sure to come as the next sunrise. I may not know Edward as good as you do but I know how those two have been going on against each other since the very beginning. Edward has never lost a battle against Mike – verbally or mentally. That bugs Mike to no end…" She cuddled up against her cushion again. I slid down on the mattress, making myself a little more comfortable. Jess was now again a little more herself- back into "talkative" mode.

"So, there he was, defeated once again by his '_arch-enemy'_ in front of us girls. It took quite some time to get him back to recognize me again. Sure, he knew I was in his arms just after he stepped out of the water but he… he just didn't seemed like himself back then. So… Silent. Even on our way back to the camp when you and Edward stayed back for a while, he wasn't saying much." She grabbed the box of tissues on her nightstand, wiping away a single tear that threatened to fall down her flushed cheek.

"Jess…" I began, but with a flick of her hand, she silenced me.

"Back then, I thought I probably deserved the silent treatment. But then, in the water, he wouldn't come and swim with us – you've been in the woods then, so you can't know about that." She put the box back and continued before I could say anything else. "And then, there was this game where we had to divide up and he wouldn't let me switch partners… To be honest, Emmett gives me the creeps. I think, he really is a nice guy – heck, he acted like some kind of old gentleman back then – but something about him always puts me on edge. And certainly not in a good way."

When she didn't continue, I knew it was on me to pour some oil on her troubled waters. But mentally, I made a quick note to ask what Emmett really did in the woods. I knew Emmett was probably raised as much as a gentleman as every other male back in the time, but it rarely showed through around me. To me, he was really just like an older brother.

"Jess, calm down a little." I handed her the box of tissues again when I saw her eyes get the traitorous wet sheen on them again. She gladly took it. "I don't think Mike was really angry at you. Probably he was just angry with himself? I mean, it's not like he could really think of getting away with his stupid stealing-game. Sure, he couldn't know we would be awake then, but we told them several times that boys weren't allowed in our cabin." When she was still sniffing, I got up and sat down on her bed besides her. She lay her head on my shoulder. Somehow, it felt a little awkward to have her cuddled up beside me, but I knew that she needed someone right now.

"Sometimes, boys just need a little time to pull themselves together. I don't think that Mike was mad at you and just because of that, he wouldn't let us switch game partners. Please don't kill when I say this before you heard my explanation, Jess: Mike probably wanted a moment to talk to me alone."

I knew I had chosen the wrong words as soon as they left my mouth. Like being struck by thunder, Jess shot up and glared at me.

"No, Jess, I said you should me he out first and trust me, you are going to like what I say." And probably, as soon as Mike would know what I told his girlfriend, he would try to kill me. Jess looked weary but let me continue. "See, he just wanted to talk to me, nothing happened between us, I swear. In fact, he told me that he wished the best for Edward and me. You are the only girl on his mind now, Jess." I concluded with a genuine smile. I was happy for this outcome.

"R-Really?" Jess asked, her face almost unreadable now.

"Really, Jess. Mike loves you, I know that. He was beaming when I told him you two make the cutest couple."

"Oh, Bella!" She half-sniffed while throwing herself at me and her arms around my small frame. "Thank you so much for telling me." Jessica was trembling a little and I was sure it wasn't because of the temperature. Hadn't she heard from Mike that he loves her already? Oh, no, did I just spill a secret? I am so dead as soon as Mike finds out.

"Hey, nothing to thank me for, Jess." I felt a little embarrassed when I hugged her, I had never been one of those touchy-girlies who would hug each other every two minutes.

Feeling my discomfort, Jess pulled herself together again – well, at least, she tried. "Sorry Bella for that little outburst… I was just so… so…"

"Happy?" I offered knowingly.

"Happy." She nodded her head yes and threw herself backwards on her bed. The springs in the mattress made us bounce a little.

A comfortably silence spread through our small cabin while Jess we thought about this day and what had happened.

A few minutes had passed when Jess propped herself up on her hands again, a mischievous glint in her eyes. I knew that instant that the old Jess was back. "Bella?"

_Let the interrogation begin…_ I groaned inwardly.

"Yes?" I asked while I tried not to let my thoughts show through.

"You _do_ realize I have a whole bunch of questions still left, right?" Her eyes sparkled in the dim light that was shining through the windows.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I hoped you would forget about those…" I confessed as I crawled back on the other bed, laying down.

She just giggled at me. "Yeah, I figured that out by myself. Well, ok, since you told me the most wonderful news tonight, I'll forget about some of the questions… But spill it, what happened to you when we got back from the waterfall? I mean, you acted pretty…. Giddied up and Alice was practically soaking wet. Even though the lake was some way across from where you entered the camping grounds, I could see you…"

And why am I not surprised that she had her eyes glued to the place of the forest where the path led to the waterfall? Well, I could at least try to stick to the trough as far as possible.

"Well, Edward and I took some time to talk about some things and no, Jess", I quickly added when I saw that glint in her eyes flicker again, "I won't tell you about that part. And why Alice had been wet… Well, you remember when I told the girls that Edward was trying to get back at me, right?"

My giddy friend nodded eagerly.

"He started with Alice." I concluded while grinning back to the event at the waterfall.

"He _what_? That was practically a death wish!" Her mouth even hang open a little and I could feel the grin spreading on my face.

"In fact, he had a little help, though. I guess I'll just start at the beginning: Edward and I were talking and all of a sudden, Alice came storming into the clearing. She tried to tell me that I should be careful around Edward and all of a sudden, he had me pinned against the soft soil of the forest and Emmett was right behind Alice… Poor girl, she didn't stand a chance against her brother."

Jess was practically glued to my lips and I had to admit that it felt actually good to just tell someone even the tiniest bit of what I was experienced. Even though I was talking the rumor-machine of Forks High.

"Edward Cullen had you pinned down on the floor, huh?" She grinned at me and I couldn't stop myself from giggling a little. Afraid that it would grow into more, I nodded my head, hiding behind the curtain of hair that the movement sent into my face.

"Well, that surely doesn't seem to be _too_ bad…" She giggled too and a dreamy look crossed her face.

"Jess, please don't tell me you are daydreaming about a certain _someone_ right now." I warned, but she dismissed my warning with a movement of her hands.

"Bella, I guess it's my turn to wish you the best for your future life – but I just can't stop my mind from conjuring up pictures of Mike and me in your situation out there…" And just on cue, my friend turned the darkest shade of red – even though we hadn't much light in our room, it was obvious on her cheeks.

For a moment, both of us were caught up in a moment of very detailed daydreams of our boys. Of course, even I could feel my cheeks heat up now, too.

"But" She started when she pried herself off her dreams again "Why did Emmett help Edward? We didn't do anything to him, did we?"

"Remember the noises in the woods?" I asked.

She shuddered slightly. "Yes?"

"That had been Emmett and he didn't like that Alice had threatened him. So, he just thought it would be fun to join in on Edward's fight for revenge." I still had a lively image of him in my head, kneeling above poor Alice, incapacitating her. My stupid subconscious sent a chill down my spine. Even though Alice was fighting with her vampire power, it had looked almost… _too_ easy for Emmett to fight her down.

"What happened then?" My curious friend asked, pulling me from my musings.

I shuddered at the memory. "They led us back to the waterfall."

"No. Way." She whispered, her eyes as big as saucers.

"Oh, they did. Edward felt generous and didn't let me feel the chill of the water; nevertheless, Alice had to endure it for several minutes. I am happy that I wasn't in her shoes then… The water _was_ terribly cold. And to be honest, both of us know that she would get into trouble for what she made us do to the boys."

Jess laughed at that. "Yes, that was to be expected. Although… I would certainly do it again if I got the chance to." She admitted with a slight grin in my direction.

I spoke without thinking. "Same with me."

_Shit, he heard that for sure!_ However, I couldn't wipe the goofy grin from my face.

"About the '_getting back'_ you told us about… Did he succeed by now?" She asked curiously.

I simply nodded my head – this time, I wasn't about to spill anything about what we did or what happened exactly.

"Any information on that part?" She asked but she could tell from my expression that I had told her enough for this evening.

Before I could say anything, Jessica shrugged, her happy mood not altered in the least. "Well, I guess I got enough news this evening." She let out another giggle. "And I might even keep those things to myself… That's some great stuff to dream about – with Mike in the star role." She rolled herself on her back again, sighing deeply.

.

As the minutes ticked by in complete silence, I felt the sleepiness from earlier creeping back into my body and this time, I wasn't about to shrug it off again.

"Want to join me to the bathing cabin?" Jessica asked, before my eyelids fluttered shut again – it felt like a weight was pulling them down.

"Sure." I yawned and went to grab my toilet bag. I would change into my comfy flannel pajamas when we got back to the small cabin.

Together, we got out of the building, making our way to the bathing cabin and about fifteen minutes later, we slid between the sheets of our beds.

"Good night, Bella." Her voice was sleepy as way mine.

"Good night, Jess."

.

We weren't fully asleep yet, when a loudly chattering crowd of girls invaded the room, flipping on the lights.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Jess groaned loudly at the sudden business in the girl's cabin. "Shut off the lights again, girls, we are trying to sleep!"

I put my pillow over my eyes, squeezing them shut. Was there no mercy? No rest for the sleepy ones?

Lauren's voice was muffled by the piece of cloth on my head. "Oh, sorry, Jess.", she said, sounding everything but.

I didn't know how long it took this time, but eventually, all of us were in our beds and the light was switched off again – finally.

.

_Whooo whooo_

It felt like only a few moments that I had closed my eyes when some kind of owl began her "Whooo whooo"-ing.

Well, _that_ and the terrible noises from Lauren's side of the room.

"Hrrrrrrrrrr" accompanied by a deep sigh. She hadn't snored yesterday, couldn't she just stop that for this one night, too?

_Whooo whooo_

Uhrg. I forced my pillow over my ears so I could drown out the noises a little – to no avail. I could still hear Lauren snoring loudly.

I led out a sigh and put the pillow under my head again, staring at the ceiling of the cabin, feeling the tiredness leave my body.

_Oh no, come on, I need some sleep or I'll be a walking zombie by tomorrow…_

Again, Lauren snored and as if in answer, the owl made her noises.

This time though, there was even one more kind of noise.

"Alice?" I whispered into the dark, turning to face her bed.

She was laying under the covers but I could see the shaking of her small shoulders under the sheets. My friend looked at me, amusement sparkling in her eyes. "Good morning, Bella." She grinned.

"Yeah, whatever. Are you laughing, Alice?" There was nothing _"good_" about this morning – I wasn't even sure it could already be called "_morning_" yet. I reached for my mobile phone and pushed a button so I could see the time. Quarter past one. Oh, _great_. Now, I could be sure to be a walking dead in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but this is just too… comical. I have never heard a human being snore so… loud and persistent." Again, I could see her small frame shake under the covers. "She should go and see a doctor – that can't be healthy." She giggled very quiet while Lauren interrupted her again. This time though, Lauren had apparently turned over, snoring now almost twice as loud as in the beginning.

I groaned and pushed back the covers of my bed, setting my feet on the cold wooden floor.

"What are you doing?" Alice whispered, eyeing me interested.

"Getting myself sleepy again. I'll take a walk through the camp, and hopefully, when I come back, it will be all peace and quiet in here again…" I snatched a towel from under my bed and got to my feet.

Alice sat up, too. "Need some company?" She asked but even before I could say something, she lay back down again. "Never mind. But don't stroll too far, promise me."

"Sure, Alice. I won't leave the camping ground." I told her, making my way through the dark. I got to my shoes at the door, put them on and tried to sneak out of our cabin as quietly as I could.

.

The air outside was fresh and a little chilly. Grateful for my flash of genius about throwing a flannel pajama into my bag before we had left Forks, I made sure that all the buttons were where they belonged and started my small round through the camp.

The moon above illuminated everything in the open space around me and reflected off the water of the lake like it was a mirror. A breeze went through the trees and they creaked while their old branches bent. Somewhere out there, the owl was still making her noises but apart from that, everything was silent.

I looked into the forest around the camp – while on my own and in the middle of the night, it surly looked a little intimidating. Everything seemed black but the wind made the branches move so they actually looked like living beings. If I would have been younger, I would have turned around, scared to my bones.

My feet carried me all the way to the shining lake at the other end of our camp. For a while, I was just standing at its shore, looking at the calm waters and finally, at the sky.

In Phoenix, I had never seen the sky as I saw it in Forks every night but out here, far away from any city, I was speechless. Was this really the sky I was used to? Or did someone change it overnight? Or well, more like "Over the course of the day". Even during our other nights around the camp fire, I hadn't seen the beauty of the sky above us.

Millions of stars were twinkling down at me. Wherever I looked, I couldn't make out a spot of pure black or at least blue. I wasn't sure about it since I had no reference but I was sure that it was the Milky Way which was spreading over the canopy. It was… breathtaking.

I don't know how long I just stood there, marveling at the sky. It could have been minutes or an hour. The moon had moved since I reached the lake but I couldn't tell how much time it needed to cross the distance. My legs started to feel heavy – a sure sign that the sleepiness was getting back to me – and I chose to roll out the towel I still held in my hands. Just so I could stay here a little longer.

I sat down, pulling my knees to my chest and started to get lost in some daydreams, when I felt a presence a few feet behind my back.

"Hey." I whispered, knowing he would hear me.

Edward's answer didn't take long. "Hey." He whispered directly to my ear when I felt his strong arms sneaking around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"How long have you been standing back there?" I asked and mentioned with my head in the direction I was talking about.

"Since some time. I didn't want to interrupt your marveling. You had the most beautiful smile on your lips." I felt his stony chest move at my back. "Well, in fact, you still have it playing on your face." And with that, he put his cold lips to my slightly exposed shoulder.

I smiled all the more and let myself melt into his body. "You can interrupt me whenever you feel like it."

"I doubt that, but thank you for giving me the permission." His lips put a feather light kiss on the uncovered side of my neck, sending a pleasant chill down my spine.

.

For some time, we just sat together like that, my eyes on the stars, his on me. I had to distract him or else I would feel the familiar warmth flushing my cheeks again. So, I just asked the first question that popped to my mind:

"Edward?" A slight movement of his head told me he was listening. "Does the sky always look like that to you? I mean, even when you are near a city?"

From the corner of my eye, I could see him smile because of my question. "Yes, it does. Maybe even a little brighter since we have a better eyesight than humans do, but I guess you already know that." At this moment, he was looking up, too.

"Now I'm envious." I snickered.

After s moment of silence, he said: "There will come a day when you will look up and see the sky like I do, Bella." He moved himself around me and silenced any potential answer to that with a kiss on my lips. This man definitely knew how to let me forget about my thoughts…

He ran his cold hands slowly up and down my arms, pushing the long sleeves of my pajamas back as he moved. Suddenly, he stopped in his movements and looked at the inner side of my right elbow. A little puzzled, I stared there, too but in the dim light of the moon, I couldn't make out anything unusual.

"Edward?" I asked. „What is it?"

I could hear him curse under his breath. "Bella? When was your last vaccination against ticks?"

Oh, please don't tell me I had a tick sitting on my arm! I tried to think about Edward's question but the answer to it didn't make me happy. "I don't think, I have ever been vaccinated against them, Edward… Or any of their stupid diseases..." I tried to pull my elbow from Edward's hand so I could take a closer look but didn't succeed. "Please don't tell me, there's a tick sitting on my arm." I half begged while trying to keep calm. I had heard about the diseases the small creatures carried – like borrelioses and similar dangerous ones – but I hadn't thought about them when I got ready to get on this trip. And of course, I hadn't got anything in my bags that could remove the creature from my arm.

"I hate to tell you, but apparently there is and it has already started sucking your blood." He closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand while still holding my elbow.

I didn't say a word, giving him the time to think about whatever he was thinking about, hoping he would try to remember if Carlisle had packed one of those tick pincers in Edward's bag.

When he opened his eyes again, he didn't look happy. "Bella, I know how to get that thing away from you but please don't move. Or at least, try not to move. Do you understand?" His gaze was boring into mine and I glumly nodded, wondering what he had thought up.

With one more careful glance in my eyes, he put his free arm around my back and reached for my arm with the tick on it. I could see his jaw clench when he lowered his head down to the inner side of my elbow – he wasn't planning on biting that creature out, was he? But I was still too stunned to say anything.

His cool breath fanned over my exposed skin, chilling me. I hadn't seen where the tick had been sitting, but apparently, Edward knew it. His lips gently brushed over my skin, trying to locate the exact place of the small, offending creature. My heart picked up speed, knowing that something was a little off.

Then, I felt something even harder than his lips grace my tender skin – Oh my, are those his _teeth_? My breath stopped for a second and I could almost hear the silent command from my subconscious: Get away from here! I felt the muscles in my arm tensing, trying to get away. But Edward wouldn't let go of my arm – he was still searching for the insect.

My heart was thundering in my chest when I felt a second row of teeth on my skin. It was like I wasn't myself – I could _feel_ and _hear_ whatever my body thought up to try and get away from the possible danger but I couldn't feel any kind of _fear_. Adrenalin was racing through my veins but my more conscious part of my mind stayed as focused as possible, telling me it was just Edward, no blood-craving, crazy vampire who was trying to suck me dry.

Then, I felt his teeth closing around something and a short moment later, it felt like someone poked me with something very sharp. It took only a second but nevertheless, my head went into overdrive, trying to compare the short feeling with what it knew about the feeling of vampire venom in my system.

Thankfully, there was no analogy. I let out the breath I had held and took another one.

I saw a movement of Edward's head, then he let go of my arm – at least with one of his hands – and ran the back of his free hand over his lips.

Not wanting to let go of the closeness of his body, I tried to cuddle up next to him, ignoring my subconscious that was probably still dealing with the fact that I had survived a possible "attack" by a vampire.

"I'm sorry, love. I could at least have told you what I was going to do…" He mumbled while reaching around me again, holding me close.

"Well, you could have told I would be feeling your teeth for the first time, that would probably have helped, but… It wasn't too bad." I told him while fighting a small smile on my lips. His teeth… I had felt them once before, in the dance studio – at least, I thought I did. I couldn't remember the critical moments between James's bite and Edward's try to get the venom sucked out again well. But I had to admit, I didn't want to remember it, at all.

Edward ran his free hand over the side of my body. "I am sorry… But… Bella…?" He looked deep into my eyes and I could read the trouble that lurked in them.

When I didn't answer, he carried on: "Would you mind… I mean, I don't really have to, but… I guess, I would feel better, if… I mean…"

I stroke my free hand over his cheek, not understanding what he was talking about. "Edward, take a deep breath and start again. What do you want?"

He averted his gaze for a moment, trying to muster up the courage to ask me. When he glanced back at me, he let out a low sigh. "Bella… I would feel better if I knew that insect didn't spread any kind of… disease in your system."

It took a few seconds to understand what he was thinking of but when I looked at the place the offending creature had been sitting on just moments ago, it hit me like a brick. Even in the dim light, I could see the small drop of liquid forming.

"You want to have a taste?" I whispered timidly. Really, it was more of a statement than a question.

I looked back into his gold pools but when he averted his gaze the second time, I cupped his cheek in my hand, "forcing" him to face me again.

I wasn't scared. I really tried to find a slight trace of fear in me, a sign that my body was totally against the idea of having Edward… well… Edward having a taste of my blood, but I couldn't find anything. Just calmness. Trust.

"If you think that would be the right idea, Edward, than… you have my permission." He still looked unsure of his own idea but I knew the idea that I would get a dangerous illness wasn't an easy one, either.

"Thank you." He whispered and put a gentle kiss on my lips, stroking my cheek with his free hand. I could tell he wasn't happy about what was going to happen now, but the possibility of the other thought would haunt him until we got back to Carlisle.

A timid smile played on his lips when he leaned down on the tick-spot once more, gently placing a kiss next to it.

"Edward…?" I heard myself ask. My nerves got the better part of me.

"Yes?" He asked and looked up into my eyes, probably thinking I would take my offer back.

I was far from that but a little voice kept nagging inside of my head. "Is it going to hurt…?" I whispered.

The smile on his lips was genuinely reassuring now. "Maybe a little. I won't take much, I promise you."

I just nodded and for the third time this evening, my beloved vampire lowered his head to the tender spot. At first, I just felt his cold lips closing around it again, then, it felt like someone was taking a blood sample through a medium-sized needle. There was some hurt, yes, but it wasn't worse than at the doctor's.

Once again, my heart and breath picked up speed and once again, I could do nothing more than look down on Edward's face. There was no burning, no fear, nothing that reminded me of the last vampire who had bitten me.

A few heartbeats later, Edward's lips closed and slowly, he began to pry his own hand from my arm. I could see the inner turmoil that he was enduring: The muscles in his neck were tensed and his jaw set. When he glanced up into my eyes, I could see his had darkened. They weren't black but not the rich gold from earlier this evening, either. Slowly, I reached with my free hand for his back, carefully stroking it.

I could see him swallow and then – but that was nothing more than a guess, it happened far too quickly – his tongue flicker over his lips, licking off whatever still stuck to them. Then, he gave me a chary but proud smile which reflected instantly on my face.

"The next time you want to get a bite out of Bella, I hope your reasons will be better, Edward." A deep, male voice commented from behind my back.

Startled, I turned around, facing the way Edward was now, too. There, illuminated by the moonlight, was standing Emmett. His arms crossed on his chest, his expression was unreadable. Well, at least to me. Edward's head lowered, awaiting the tell-off that was sure to come.

"Emmett, he just – " I began, trying to defend Edward's and my actions, but with a movement of Emmett's strong arms, he dismissed it.

"I know what he did, Bella. And that you allowed him to do it. But Edward? If you would have listened to me, just for a second, you would have known that your actions weren't really required. You have the gift of reading minds, so don't tune out everyone when their advice could come in handy." With that, he flicked his hand and a small pack of band-aids and a tick pincer landed next to me on the towel.

"The next time you try to bite her with no real reason, Edward, you'll have to get past me first. Trust me, I don't want to see Bella in any kind of danger like that again." With that, he glared at his brother once more, than sent a keen glance in my direction. Without waiting for any more explanation, he turned around and went off, back to the boys' cabin.

Edward let out a sigh. "He is right." He mumbled, almost too low for me to pick it up.

"Probably." I admitted. To be honest, I had never seen Emmett protective like that before just because of me. He really felt like a brother. However, before Edward could make himself anymore miserable, I had to say something to him.

"But Edward? Thanks for doing it, nevertheless." I put a hand under his chin, motioning him to look at me again. "I mean, sure, we could have waited for his pincer – where did he get that, anyway? – but what then? Eventually, you would have to taste my blood to make sure that the little creature didn't leave any… substances in my body. What reminds me… Had it?"

Edward shook his head no and moved him around me once more, so he was sitting behind my back again, holding me close to his strong chest. "Your blood was clean, there hasn't been any traces of the tick left." I could feel him sigh in relief. It sent the air around me into motion. "However, there was quite some adrenaline…"

"Hey, don't worry about that. You ever wondered about my non-existent human reactions around vampires, don't get worked up just because you realized I really have at least one." I told him while stroking over his strong arms around my waist. It felt good to have him close to me.

"I'm sorry I scared you." He whispered into my ear, trying to hide the shame in his voice.

Trying to dismiss this wouldn't work. "I know you are, Edward. Please don't think about it, since that's what I did: Not thinking. I wasn't feeling scared, Edward. I trust you." I added the last sentence as a whisper.

I felt his lips on my neck again and I could feel the small smile that had formed on them.

Seems like he is feeling better again…

"And I will never understand why you trust me as deeply as that, no matter how often you try to explain it to me." I could feel the slightest snicker running through his body.

Yes, he was definitely recovering.

"And you are right; Emmett had no test for any kind of illness in your blood packed in his bags. So… I guess, it really was the only way to make sure. I'm going to talk about that with him again, though." He added softly and put a gentle kiss on my neck.

.

"Uhm, Edward?" I asked nervously after a few heartbeats in silence. The band-aid that Emmett had brought reminded me of something.

"Hum?" Edward was skimming his nose on the exposed side of my neck, clearly enjoying himself again.

"Could you get some band-aid on me, please? I don't want to scratch there tonight…" With my luck, I would scratch myself until I bled again and Alice was just a bed across from me… I didn't want her to go through that kind of torture. "And I can't really see the exact place where it bit me, either. I think, that's probably easier for you."

"Oh, sure." He reached for the small box that Emmett had thrown at us earlier and picked out a small piece of band-aid, gently putting it on the bite mark of the stupid little creature. "Better?" He asked and I nodded my head yes.

"What exactly did you do to the creature anyway?" I didn't mean to ask that question out loud, but the sleepiness was getting back into my head and slowly, it pulled me back into my dreams, making me a little less mindful.

My beloved vampire took a second to organize his answer. "Well, I used my teeth as some kind of pincer. I mean, they are sharp and when I'm very, very careful, I can definitely use them that way… But please promise me that you won't get any more ticks on this trip – and that you'll get a vaccination against those things first thing we get back to Forks."

I snickered at that. "First thing I'm going to do in Forks is to get some much needed sleep. This is the fourth time this evening I'm trying to get some rest and until now, nothing has worked out like I wanted it to do."

"This time, I'll make sure nothing and no one is going to interrupt your sleep again, my love." Edward whispered next to my ear.

I felt him leaning back on the towel and how I cuddled up right next to him but my eyes were already closed and I didn't care to muster the strength to open them again. I felt so… right to lay in his strong arms.

"I love you…" I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep and even though I was sure there was no way he could possibly have understood it, he answered.

"I love you too, my angel. More than anything else."


	18. Chapter eighteen Good Morning

A little bit of a filler chapter. One or two more chapters to go... ;)

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Good Morning**

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Actually, this time it really felt like I had gotten some sleep during the last few… hours? I wasn't sure.

"Awake again?" Alice asked. She was lying on her side, facing me. Her voice was slightly muffled by the pillow under her head.

I turned around, mimicking her pose, facing her. Smiling, I nodded my head.

That was, when it occurred to me.

"I'm back in the cabin?" Had last night been a dream? My hand reached up to my elbow and surely, the band-aid was still in place. So, last night hadn't been a dream at all… But how did I come back to the cabin?

Alice smiled warmly at me. It was still silent in the room, apart from our whispering. I guessed, the others were still fast asleep. "Edward brought you back almost an hour ago."

I raised my eyebrows. "You let him come into our all-girls-fortress?"

Her shoulders moved slightly, as she stifled her laugher. "Well, yes. He asked if it would be OK, though. He's already been in here, so where's the point in keeping him outside? And I knew no one would know he was here, the girls were all asleep. Ah, by the way, Lauren stopped snoring almost two hours after you left. She started drooling on her pillow soon after. Trust me, I was on the edge of being grossed out." She wrinkled her tiny nose at the thought of it and it was my time to keep the snickering noises I made low.

"How's your arm?" She asked, looking intently at the skin-colored band-aid on my arm.

"It's fine, I think." I wasn't surprised that she knew about it. I was more curious about the "when" – did she know what would happen before I left the cabin? But it didn't really matter.

"Edward… tasted it?" She asked, her eyes concerned but curious.

I nodded. "He said it was clean."

"Sometimes, I wonder where he gets all that restraint from. You would think that he would run out of stock at some point."

"Hopefully not too soon." I whispered even lower than we were talking before.

She gave me a small grin in return. "You haven't been scared?"

"Scared? Not really. Surprised? Yes, utterly. I mean, hey, he could have _warned_ me beforehand, couldn't he?" I thought back to the feeling of his deadly teeth grazing the tender skin on the inner side of my elbow. It gave me Goosebumps. "It's not like I have felt his teeth before…"

"I guess it's a miracle that you didn't cut yourself on them."

"Hearing the word 'miracle' falling from _your_ lips is kind of unsettling, Alice."

She just shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything more.

.

The sun filtered through the small windows into our cabin. I chanced a look at my watch – half past eight. We should get up soon.

As if on cue, Angela's mobile rang. She had set the timer and – was that Linkin Park?

As the music – or more: _noise_ – grew in volume, the other girls in the cabin began to stir. I sat up and could see how Angela reached out for her mobile, trying to hit the snooze-option while still being half asleep.

"Angela… Turn that off…" Jessica mumbled into her pillow, without a doubt trying to drone the noise out.

Lauren rolled over, landing with a loud _thud_ on the floor in front of her bed. "Ouch…" She mumbled and sat up.

Finally, Angela found the button she was searching for and hit it. The same second, the music stopped.

"Good morning ladies!" Alice exclaimed merrily. She stood up and began pulling away the covers from the girls and I had to laugh at their reactions. Angela just curled into a ball, whereas Jessica tried to attack my vampiric friend, fighting for her comforter. Alice just stepped to her right and with a _thud_, Jess landed on the floor of the cabin just like Lauren. She let out a long groan, scrambling to her feet, pulling together what dignity she had left after that not-so-graceful stunt.

"Girls, we have to get moving if we want to be ready with our tasks when we have to make our way back to Forks." The tiny vampire instructed while throwing the blankets on one pile farthest away from the other girls in the room.

By now, they all looked more or less awake, even Angela had started to sit up and rub the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"How late is it?" Jess groaned while plopping down on her bed again.

"Quarter to nine. We are already behind schedule, so please, get a move on." Alice was already at her dresser, pulling out something to wear for today.

I let out a last sigh and stretched my arms and legs, then I got up and got my clothes as well. Mike had said, he and I had to make sure that the sleeping cabins were back in their original state before we would leave. So, probably, I had to help the others to clean up our rather… messy cabin. Hell, I wouldn't believe what a mess five girls could produce in so little time hadn't I seen it by myself.

"Do we have at least the time to breakfast, Alice?" Lauren asked groggily when she, too, tried to get some clothes out of her drawer.

"Hmm…" Alice mused. "Yes, I think, we'll have at least half an hour. We may be a little behind our schedule but since no one of the boys made an effort to wake us up, I guess they just overslept, too. But we should hurry up, my head tells me that it's going to rain later and we wouldn't want to have to pack all our belongings in the cars while being drenched."

Angela shot her a sympathetic look. "You're sensitive to changes in the weather pattern, too?"

Alice looked at the pathetic small dresser right in front of her and fought a grin. "I guess, you can say that, yeah."

"Uhm, Alice?" This time, it was Jessica who spoke up. "Did it cross your mind by any chance that the guys may be too scared to even knock on our door? I'd bet, Mike or Edward wouldn't dare to get 'caught' right outside of our cabin after yesterday." She grinned and winked at me.

"Oh. Yes, I hadn't considered that… Anyway, I'm fairly sure they'll be at the kitchen cabin by now, too. I think, I heard a plate shatter right before you girls woke up."

.

About ten minutes later, we were fully dressed and stepped out of the cabin and made our way towards the kitchen. The weather was nicely overcast but the clouds didn't look like rain yet. But I knew better than to doubt Alice. Surprisingly, the air was rather warm. I stretched one more time, then sauntered over to the biggest building of the campsite.

It wasn't until I almost reached the door, that I noticed someone at the side of the cabin, leaning with his back against its wall. Emmett.

I watched as the other filed into the building but I chose to walk to Emmett instead. I was feeling slightly bad for last night when he had caught Edward and me near the lake, watching how Edward sucked some of my blood.

"Emmett." I said as only a few feet parted us. He had is eyes closed, but I could see a faint smile on his lips. His strong arms were crossed over his chest, making him look a little intimidating. When he heard me saying his name, he gazed down at me but held his stance.

"Good morning Bella." He greeted and I could see how his gaze went from my eyes to the small band-aid on my arm. "How's your tick bite?"

A little self-conscious, I put my left hand over the place where that stupid bug had bitten me. "It's fine. The band-aid is there so I wouldn't scratch there until I would bleed… I guess, Alice wouldn't have liked that."

He let out a short laugh. "No, she wouldn't."

For a moment, no one of us said anything. "Uhm… Emmett?"

"Hum?"

"Thanks for last night." I whispered, while my hand reached to the back of my neck, rubbing it slightly. "I mean, for being there and keeping tabs on me. I know it was pretty reckless and stupid from Edward and me to do… well… what we did." Edward getting the bug out of my vein and sucking my blood, while I gave my okay.

Emmett reached out with one of his massive hands and lightly ruffled my hair. "Good that you realize a mistake once you made one. Bella, you two really scared me last night. It's a mystery to me how Edward keeps so in control around you that I didn't think he would really get an idea as idiotic as sucking your blood. I mean, even if he '_had to_', like he told me this morning. Hell, he reminded me of the time I slipped on someone who smelled to me like you smell to my little brother and for a moment, I really considered ripping him away from you."

I dropped my head a little, looking at the gravel at my feet. "I'm sorry." I whispered, feeling ashamed.

He slid his index finger under my chin, lifting my head so I would look at him again. "It's okay. Edward had told me about his reasons for doing it and I have to say, his idea bore some logic. But please, little sister, promise me that something like that won't happen again. Promise me that his next bite into your flesh will be the last one."

I chewed on my lower lip. It was rare to see Emmett concerned like that. And I knew what he meant with his last remark: The next time Edward would bite me, it should be the time he would let his venom spread. "I promise." I said with as much sincerity as I could muster.

Emmett took a second to think this over, than his smile widened. "Thanks, Bella." And with one swift movement, he had me pressed against his chest, pulled into a brotherly hug.

I smiled up at him when he let go of me again and something occurred to me. "You're eyes are a lighter shade of gold than yesterday."

He half grinned at me. "Yeah… I told you that Edward had spoken to me this morning? Well, we chose to have a snack, too. Apparently, he had to get a certain taste off his mind." He winked.

"You went hunting? I thought you wouldn't do that while humans are around?" I asked, puzzled.

"Well, I wouldn't call it '_hunting_'. It really was more of '_taking a snack'_. There's a slight difference, but I guess, you should better ask Edward or wait until you'll figure that out by yourself. I don't really know how to phrase my explanation without giving Edward a reason to have my head." He laughed and it was contagious.

I was so absorbed in our little dialogue, that I didn't notice Edward's approach until his cold arms were snaking around my shoulders, pulling me to his stony chest. "Good morning, love." He breathed right next to my ear, sending butterflies into my stomach.

I reached up and since I couldn't move my head, I touched his arm, looking at him from the corner of my eye when he put his head on my shoulder. "Good morning." I whispered, getting a little lost in the moment.

Emmett pointedly cleared his throat, grinning at our display of affection.

"Don't worry Emmett, we'll behave." Edward answered and I could feel him grin next to me. "Besides, I guess, Bella needs to keep her thoughts in order a little longer… I still have to work out my revenge on her and it certainly wouldn't do anything good if she would already get _too_ intoxicated by now, ruining my plans for later."

I stiffened in his arms. Edward's revenge – I had almost forgotten about it since the tick-incident. I tried to struggle free and simultaneously, I thought up several ways to escape from my impending doom.

Of course, my attempts to free myself were fruitless. Edward's embrace was like steel, there was just no way for me to fight him.

I could feel him chuckle, since his breath sent the air around me swirling and his chest moved behind my back.

"Need help, Bella?" Emmett asked, still leaning on the wall of the cabin, grinning at my failing attempts.

Before I could say a word, Edward's hand was over my mouth, silencing me.

"No, she doesn't need any help – but thanks for your kind offer." He declared, sounding like a real gentleman while his actions belied his words.

Emmett just laughed and stood up. "Well, I don't think I'm needed anymore. I'll go and pack my things for the way back. By now, the smell of the boys should be carried away by the wind…" Without looking back, my huge vampiric friend walked towards the boy's cabin.

.

I let out a sigh and Edward spun me around to face him. His eyes were a very light honey-gold from the early 'snack', mesmerizing me. As he felt that I wouldn't fight him anymore, he took his hand from my mouth and quickly replaced it with his lips.

I liked _that_ so much better…

"How are you?" He whispered, after he had to pull away.

"Actually, I'm feeling rather rested – considering that I didn't get as much sleep as I had liked last night."

Edward smiled his crooked smile down at me. "You didn't even talk after you fell asleep in my arms. You've been pretty much exhausted, haven't you?"

I just nodded and snuggled closer to his chest, laying my head over the spot, where his heart lay still in his chest. "Alice let you come into our cabin?" I asked.

His embrace tightened a little, but it felt good. "Yes. She was kind enough to grant me entrance. You were getting cold outside and I figured out I had to get you under the covers of your bed. No one saw me, though. So, as long as you keep quiet, nobody will know I set another foot into your private fortress."

I sighed in contentment. "Oh, I won't tell anyone. But Edward?"

"Hm?"

"It felt… so good to fall asleep in your strong arms again." I confessed, waiting for the blush to reach my cheeks. Sure enough, after two or three seconds, it tinted them pink.

I felt Edward's hand stroking over the back of my head. I was in heaven.

"And it felt good to feel your sleeping body next to me again, as well." He whispered and put a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

.

For a while, we were just standing there but of course, my human needs made themselves known. My stomach grumbled, reminding me why I was standing here in the first place. The other were probably already finished with their breakfast.

"You didn't get any breakfast yet?" Edward asked, pulling a little away from me too look into my eyes. I shook my head no.

"I wanted to talk to Emmett first and then, you appeared out of thin air."

"Well then, let's get you something to eat." He pulled away from me, but instead of letting go of me completely, he held my hand in his.

I just nodded and together, we entered the busy kitchen cabin.

.

I had been right about the others: They were already finishing their breakfast when Edward and I entered the small sitting room. So, without losing too much time, I made a toast with peanut butter and wolfed it down as fast as I could. Edward looked at me, grinning, though a little bewildered, too. Normally, I was taking my time to eat. But now, I didn't want to let the other girls wait for me so we could finally start to tidy up our room.

When I was finished, everybody else was already filing out of the building again, starting their tasks for the day. Lauren and Tyler went straight to the bathroom building, their shoulders slightly slumped. I couldn't feel sorry for them, though. Well, ok, for Tyler I could manage some feelings of that sort – but for Lauren? Never.

I didn't realize I had a smug grin on my face before Edward commented on it.

"What are you thinking, my love? You're looking rather self-pleased…" But he was smirking himself.

"You know I don't really like Lauren. It kind of feels good to imagine her in 'tidy up' clothes with a shrubbery in her hands…"

With one of his free hands, Edward ruffled through my hair. "Yes… Honestly, I wonder how she could finish her tasks back in the woods anyway. Alice and I had a little too much fun hiding their objectives."

I had to grin – so, I had been right. Alice and Edward really had hidden their stuff… No wonder, why it took so long for Tyler and Lauren to reach the finish.

"Well, I have to get back to our cabin, Edward. It looks as if a bomb has exploded in there and I have to make sure it's clean once we leave the camping ground." To be honest, I was a little sad that our little weekend trip was over already. It had been so much more fun than I had thought it would be.

Edward could see my thoughts in my eyes. "You had fun these days, hm?" He asked while gently brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

I nodded and pulled Edward into a close embrace. He circled my waist with one of his arms and stroke the back of my head with his free hand.

"I'm glad you liked it." His cold breath tickled my ear. "But I hope you remember that this trip isn't over yet, my love…" As I looked up, I could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

I wrinkled my nose when I remembered. "Yeah… I know, you still have your plan for revenge. But you won't tell me anything about it, right?"

My beloved vampire shook his head no and released me from our embrace. "I guess, you should get going, Bella. I already told Alice what you shouldn't pack into your normal bag but in a backpack. Just trust her with what she's telling you."

I stepped a few steps back and shot him a wary glance. "Edward…?" I should pack things into a backpack? Why?

His answering grin was wide and a little bit evil, too. "Just do as I ask."

Okay, so he wasn't going to tell me anything else… I took a deep breath and without looking back again, went straight back into our girls-only-cabin. Again, I got that nervous, tingling feeling in my gut which told me to get away from here. Stupid subconscious. It was just Edward, what could be the worst he would do?


End file.
